The Other Side of the Rainbow
by Sparkling Patronus
Summary: Sequel to 'In a Different Light', full summary inside. Two months after returning to Oz, life seems peaceful. But when Elphaba, Glinda and Dorothy need to travel to Kansas, and are stuck there, they will find that lies can be spread anywhere. COMPLETE
1. Couldn't Be Happier

**Title: The Other Side of the Rainbow**

**Rating: K+**

**Pairings: FiyeroxElphaba, GlindaxBoq**

**Summary: Sequel to In a Different Light. All has been peaceful in the land of Oz. Glinda and Boq and Elphaba and Fiyero have been married, and Dorothy has settled down on her own. However, when Dorothy gets word of her uncle's death, Elphaba and Glinda must accompany her back to Kansas so she can pay her last respects. When they are unexpectedly stuck there with no way home, they will find that the Ozians are not the only ones capable of believing propaganda. **

**OK so, by popular demand, this is a sequel to 'In a Different Light', my story about Dorothy's return to Oz. I had this idea, but I wasn't sure I was going to act on it because it's a little bit odd. Keep an open mind, as some of the events in this fic may seem a bit far fetched. Overall though, I hope it won't seem completely stupid. I realized that there were some loose ends left in Kansas, the biggest being the fact that Dorothy had left uncle Henry all on his own. This fic was my attempt to help Dorothy finish up anything that still had to be done in Kansas. **

**Anyways, without further adieu, here's the first chapter.**

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Glinda the Good sat in her very large, very pink bedroom, still in her very pink pajamas and lost in thought. She lay sprawled out across the still unmade bed that she and Boq now shared. She knew Boq always felt uncomfortable in this bedroom, and so they were having another room furnished that would suit both of their tastes. Until that little project was finished, however; Boq was going to have to survive in his fluffy pink surroundings.

For the moment Glinda was alone, as Boq had gone downstairs about fifteen minutes ago. She'd told him she was still a bit tired and that she would catch up with him in a bit. She sighed contentedly and flipped herself over, burying her face in the soft pink blankets.

It had been a week since she had been married to Boq, coincidentally the last person on earth she would have ever thought she'd end up falling for, and she honestly could not remember a time when she'd been happier. The wedding had been small, but it had been perfect as well. She and Elphaba, who had still been engaged to Fiyero at the time, had decided to have a joint wedding. It might have seemed a bit odd, and they'd have to share their special days, but Glinda thought it would be completely romantic for both pairs of lovers to be wed on the same afternoon. Elphaba had agreed, and they'd set the date for about a month after Boq had proposed to Glinda.

They had wanted a small wedding, which may have seemed uncharacteristic of Glinda, and so there were not many people present at all. In fact, the only guests they'd had were Dorothy and Toto, the cowardly Lion (who had been quite confused and mildly terrified until everything had been explained to him), and the three Gale Force Captains, who Glinda had become good friends with after the whole ordeal last month had been over. They'd decided they would be married in one of the rooms in the palace, which would be furnished properly and made into a wedding chapel for the occasion.

The day had gone perfectly, and Glinda had even managed to convince Elphaba to wear a white wedding dress, which had happened to compliment her skin tone perfectly. The only problem had come up when Glinda had found Elphaba crying silently to herself in the corner of the spare room they were getting changed in. When Glinda had asked her about this, Elphaba had told her about how when she and Nessa were very young, they had promised each other that they would be each others maid of honor at their respective weddings. Over time Elphaba had resigned herself to the fact that she was probably not going to find someone to marry her anyway, but now that her wedding day had come it had brought back the old memory, as well as the pain of losing her sister.

Glinda had felt terrible upon hearing this story, as had Dorothy, who had wanderd into the room because she was acting as a bridesmaid for both weddings. However, Elphaba had told Glinda that, since Nessa wasn't here, she was glad that Glinda was to be her maid of honor instead. The whole set up was a bit odd really, Glinda and Elphaba would be each others maid of honor, and Fiyero and Boq would each act as the best man at the others wedding. All in all it was a rather strange ceremony, but they'd pulled it off and they wouldn't have had it any other way.

Dorothy had made a decision, and as a wedding gift she had offered Elphaba the ruby slippers, now knowing the full story behind them. She loved the shoes, but Elphaba obviously missed her sister, and Dorothy felt she should do something to help Elphaba preserve her sister's memory. Besides, the shoes really did rightfully belong to Elphaba in the first place. Elphaba had been moved to tears by the gesture, and the shoes had been put in a special display case, which she now kept in her bedroom.

Now the two couples were together almost all the time. Though Elphaba and Fiyero had moved to Munchkinland to become the governors there, they paid Glinda a visit almost every day. The Emerald City was really only a few minutes away by broomstick, and the Ozians were so used to the sight of Elphaba flying around on the old thing by now that it caused no commotion.

Dorothy also occasionally paid visits to the four of them, having grown quite close with all of them, including Elphaba. Never in her life would she have ever believed that she would become good friends with the Wicked Witch of the West, but now that she had she was extremely grateful she'd kept an open mind. She'd found Elphaba to be a very nice person once she'd gotten to know her. Sure Elphaba was a bit stubborn and sarcastic, but that was only part of what made her personality so interesting.

Granted, it had been strange for Elphaba at first too. She'd never had any friends other than Glinda, and she and Fiyero had been living alone for so long that she had really lost any social skills she had before possessed. It was strange that she could now say she had a best friend in Glinda, as well as two other good friends in Dorothy and Boq and a lover in Fiyero. It had taken her a while to stop feeling a bit awkward around Dorothy and Boq, but by now she felt almost completely comfortable in their presences. For the first time in her life she actually felt accepted and, though she had always tried to tell herself that she honestly didn't care what people thought, she knew that deep down it was what she'd always wanted.

Finally Glinda, still smiling from her pleasant early morning musings, rolled off of the bed. She squealed in alarm as she rolled too far and went over the side, taking two fluffy pillows with her. She landed on the floor with wide eyes before sitting up and shaking her head, giggling slightly. She stood and prepared to get dressed before she joined Boq downstairs.

Ambling over to her closet, Glinda rifled through the endless number of dressed before selecting a lavender colored one. She changed quickly and then moved over to her vanity, tripping over a pair of Boq's pants in the process. She had to admit, Boq was a slob. She found his things thrown everywhere, even though there was enough closet space in the palace to house half of Oz. She shook her head as she sat down in front of the mirror and applied her various cosmetics, she'd have to give that man a nice talking to.

After about a half an hour of work she finally stood and left the bedroom, walking down the long corridor that led to the dining hall. When she reached her destination it was to find Boq already sitting at the table, sipping a mug of steaming coffee and skimming the newspaper. She came up from behind his and wrapped her arms around his neck, which caused him to jump and nearly spill his coffee into his lap Boq was extremely skittish, which caused Glinda endless amusement. Boq rolled his eyes as he placed his mug back onto the table and gave his still giggling wife a kiss. She could be so childish sometimes, but he found that he loved her anyway.

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Elphaba and Fiyero began their morning a bit differently. Elphaba was the first to awaken, and she rolled over and smiled at Fiyero, who was snoring slightly from his place next to her. She sat up to lean back against the headboard, looking around the room. It was pretty large, but not nearly as flamboyant as Glinda's pink monstrosity. It was furnished in simple colors, the walls a dark shade of blue and the floors adorned in a peach carpet with olive green borders. The furniture was cherry wood, and old fashioned looking and consisted of a dresser, two amours, and a night stand on either side of their queen sized bed. On the end of the dresser a display case housed the ruby slippers that had once been her sisters, their bright red contrasting sharply against the other more practical colors of the room.

Fiyero stirred beside her, and Elphaba looked down at her husband as he awoke. He opened his eyes and yawned, giving Elphaba a sleepy smile as their eyes met. He propped himself up on his elbows and turned to her, "Sleep well?"

"Mmm hmm," she responded, smiling back at him.

Fiyero pushed himself up into a sitting position before giving Elphaba a quick kiss. Elphaba made a face at him and said playfully, "Why don't you brush your teeth first next time Romeo?"

Fiyero responded with a laugh and then rolled off of the bed quickly and darted into the bathroom before Elphaba could untangle herself from the bed sheets.

"No fair," she shouted, banging on the bathroom door once for emphasis, "You cheated!"

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After breakfast, Glinda and Boq retreated into the library to just talk and plan their day. It was a habit of theirs to use this room for conversation. For so many years they'd been having their monthly meetings and conversations in here, and so by now it just felt natural. It was private and comfortable and they could usually speak without being interrupted.

"Are Elphaba and Fiyero coming by again later?" Boq asked, taking a sip of his second mug of coffee, which he'd brought into the library with him.

"Most likely," said Glinda, "Elphie didn't say anything about not coming anyway."

Elphaba had also been giving Glinda further lessons in reading the Grimmerie, helping Glinda to understand what each unfamiliar symbol meant and how each vowel was pronounced. With Elphaba's tutoring, Glinda could already read some of the simpler spells on her own, and with Elphaba's assistance she could often get through some of the more difficult ones as well.

While the women were upstairs pouring over their spell book, Boq and Fiyero would just talk about 'guy stuff' as they put it. They would give no further information about what the hell this meant, and Glinda and Elphaba had long ago decided they really didn't want to know.

Sometimes the friends would also go into town, where Glinda would drag them into various shops or Elphaba would want to show them an exhibit at one museum or another. They also sometimes went to see a show or went to dinner. Occasionally Dorothy would join them on these little outings, feeling a bit out of place because she was so much younger than the other four. Regardless of this, Dorothy did consider the four her best friends in Oz, although she'd also made a few friends among the Animals in Roselburg that were her own age as well.

Glinda and Boq's privacy was interrupted a bit later as the door was thrown open and a very distressed looking Dorothy stumbled in. Her eyes were red and puffy and there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Glinda stood up, alarmed at the state the girl was in.

"Dorothy, what's wrong?" asked Boq worriedly, taking a place beside Glinda. Both were strangely reminiscent of the last time Dorothy had burst in on one of their meetings.

"My Uncle Henry is dead," she said, the end of her sentence lost in a hiccupped sob.

**Ah yes, more angst for Dorothy. She should hate me by now; I'm giving her personal issues just to move my story lines along. Anyways, please leave a review and tell me what you thought of the first chapter. I hope the idea doesn't seem too far fetched. **

**Unfortunately, this fic isn't written yet like the other one was, and therefore it's going to take me longer to post the chapters. Please bear with me, as it may take me as long as a week to update.**

**Till next time S.P.**


	2. Bad News

**OK guys, thanks for the patience. I wanted to update this sooner but my parents made me stay at my grandparents' house while they went off to Atlantic City for two days and I haven't been able to get on. Anyways, thank you for the reviews. **

**Well here's the chapter. I mentioned in my first author's note that some situations in this fic might be a bit farfetched. This would be one of them. I mean, it's not impossible, just improbable, but I know I'll probably get some criticism on it anyway. Well, I'll stop rambling now. Here's chapter two:**

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"My Uncle Henry is dead," Dorothy sobbed, burying her face in her hands. Glinda and Boq exchanged looks of shock and surprise before Glinda turned to address Dorothy.

"How do you know that Dorothy?" Glinda asked carefully, not wanting to further upset the girl. She was confused. Dorothy had been living in Oz for almost two months, so how on earth could she know what was happening in her old home of Kansas?

"I got a letter," said Dorothy, meeting Glinda's concerned eyes with her own watery ones, "I don't know how, but a carrier pigeon found me, and it had a letter addressed to me tied to its foot. I really don't know how it happened, but it's from one of the old farm hands I used to be friends with. His name is Hunk." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, which she offered to Glinda.

Glinda took the small letter from Dorothy and unfurled it. She read aloud, "This letter is for Miss Dorothy Gale, wherever she may be. Dorothy, I know you went missing over a month ago, and I don't know how or why I know this, but I'm confident that somehow this letter will reach you. I regret to inform you that your Uncle Henry passed away this past Tuesday. The funeral will be held on your farm this Saturday. I have no idea why I'm writing this, considering you were presumed dead last month. Somehow I think you ended up in that world you were always talking about enthusiastically. Maybe I'm just losing my mind, but if you do receive this letter, I know you'll want to be there. Hunk."

When she had finished Glinda looked up at Dorothy, completely shocked and confused. By all means the fact that this letter was here should have been impossible, but here she was, holding the small piece of paper in her hand. It fluttered from Glinda's hand and fell lightly to the floor, but Glinda made no move to retrieve it because her attention now returned to Dorothy, who was sobbing once more.

"I'm such a horrible person," she cried, tears pouring from her eyes, "I never thought of Uncle Henry at all when I left. I never though of anyone but myself! I never thought about what he'd think happened to me, or who would help him with the farm, or anything else for that matter. Now he's gone, and it's all my fault because I just couldn't face reality!"

Glinda felt horrible for the poor girl, and Boq looked stricken as he watched her sob. Glinda went over and put her arm around the girl, trying to offer some words of comfort, "Dorothy don't say that. None of this is your fault. You didn't even know the shoes would take you to Oz. You couldn't have anticipated this happening. Dorothy you're not a horrible person."

"But I am! You don't understand, I haven't even spared Uncle Henry a thought these past few weeks. He helped raise me and I just abandoned him as if he meant nothing to me! Now I'm never going to see him again and he probably thought I cared nothing about him! Glinda what am I going to do?"

Glinda had honestly no idea how she was supposed to answer that question, and she pulled Dorothy into a hug instead. She felt terrible. She knew how Dorothy must feel; it was almost the same feelings she had experienced after she had believed Elphaba had died.

Finally, after a few minutes, Dorothy spoke again, "Glinda, I have to go to that funeral. I have to at least go pay my respects to Uncle Henry. Is there any possible way I can get back to Kansas for a little while? Not permanently of course, but I need to go to that funeral."

Glinda thought for a moment, "I'm not sure Dorothy. The ruby slippers might work, but in all honesty I'm not sure. You see, I haven't been quite truthful, I really have no idea how those shoes work."

Dorothy looked confused at Glinda's confession, "But you're the one who told me how to use them in the first place."

"I forced Madame Morrible to put the spell on them for me once I'd captured her. I knew what they'd do the first time, but I really don't know how or why they brought you back here," she said, not meeting Dorothy's eyes.

Dorothy looked thoughtful for a moment, and Glinda wondered if the girl was upset with her, but then Dorothy said, "Do you think you and Elphaba could find a spell? I mean something that could send me back?"

Glinda was thoughtful for a moment. She knew the Grimmerie held many spells, but she didn't know if it included anything that could allow people to travel between worlds. She looked back at Dorothy, "I'm not sure. Elphaba would know more about it than I do. You'll have to ask her."

"Can we go see her now then? I mean, it's already Friday and, assuming that the letter reached me at the intended time, that means the funeral is tomorrow." Dorothy said. By now her eyes had dried a bit, but her voice still wobbled as she spoke.

"Uh, I actually think she and Fiyero will be over in just a few clock ticks. We might as well just wait for them to show up," she said, looking at the wall clock that hung over one of the book shelves. It actually was around the time that Elphaba and Fiyero chose to visit each day.

Dorothy reluctantly agreed, mostly because she despised traveling by bubble, Glinda's preferred means of transportation. However it wasn't really important because, as if on cue, Elphaba and Fiyero chose this time to make their appearance. They entered the library, Elphaba striding confidently in the lead and Fiyero staggering behind, looking a bit windswept. He still hadn't gotten used to riding on the back of Elphaba's broomstick and he doubted if he ever would. However, both stopped in their tracks when they entered the room, practically sensing the tension in the air.

"Oh Elphaba there you are. We need your help," she said, turning to her friend as she entered the room.

Elphaba could tell something was wrong here, "What's going on?"

Glinda looked at Dorothy to elaborate, but when the girl said nothing Glinda took the initiative, "Dorothy's uncle died, and she needs to get back to Kansas for a day for the funeral. Do you know of any spells in the Grimmerie that would help?"

Elphaba looked thoughtful as she leaned her broomstick against a bookshelf and removed her pointed hat, "I'm not really sure. I haven't read through the entire book. If you have it upstairs in your room I suppose I could take a look now."

"Thank you," said Dorothy, smiling sadly before returning her gaze to her hands.

"Yes, it's upstairs in my closet where we left it yesterday. Come one," said Glinda, motioning for the others to follow her out of the room. They all obeyed, and walked almost single file up to Glinda's quarters, no one speaking. They reached the door and everyone filed inside. Elphaba thought she saw Boq cringe as they passed through the doorway, but it could have just been a trick of the light.

Wasting no time, Glinda disappeared into her closet and began rummaging through it for the Grimmerie. Now that Boq's stuff was in here as well she found she had a harder time locating things. It didn't matter how organized she was when the floor was covered in mismatched pairs of shoes and different colored ties. She and Boq needed to have a serious talk.

Eventually she emerged from the mess, clutching the Grimmerie to her chest. She set it on the floor and Elphaba moved forward. She flipped through the book quickly, only skimming each page for words that would tell her what each spell would do. Glinda recognized a couple of words as Elphaba scrutinized the book, but for the most part Elphaba was flipping the pages too quickly for Glinda to really see what was written on each page.

Eventually Elphaba stopped flipping and read through one of the pages, her eyes darting back and forth. When she had finished she sat back and folded her arms, a thoughtful look on her face.

"What is it?" asked Glinda, her own eyes skimming the page briefly. She could make out a couple of words, but nothing that really gave her any insight into the spell's effect. All eyes in the room swiveled to Elphaba as they waited for her verdict.

"Well, it's complicated. This spell is used for a kind of teleporting, but it doesn't specify exactly how far away you can teleport, or whether it's possible to transfer between worlds. We could give it a shot anyway, I'm just not entirely sure about whether or not it will work," she said, addressing Dorothy.

Without even hesitating, Dorothy answered, "If there's even the slightest chance it could work I'd really appreciate you trying it."

"Well," said Elphaba, her eyes once more darting over the page, "If we're going to use this spell, I'm going to have to come with you. Assuming we reach our destination, I'll have to recite the spell again to bring us back to Oz."

"Oh," said Dorothy, "I couldn't ask you to do that."

"I don't mind," said Elphaba, shrugging, "It's only for a day, and it's not like anyone knows who the hell I am in Kansas anyway."

Dorothy smiled, "Thanks Elphaba, I really appreciate it."

"Why don't we all come with you?" Glinda suggested, "It might help for you to have some moral support. Besides, I don't quite trust Elphaba on her own."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "Glinda we can't all go. Remember what happened the last time you left Oz without a leader. And this time you wouldn't even have Boq to leave behind as a replacement."

"Fine, then I'll come with you and Boq and Fiyero can stay behind and run things. Besides, like you said, it is only for one day," Glinda replied, placing her hands on her hips stubbornly.

"Fine," Elphaba conceded, "As long as we don't come home to find only a charred pile of ashes remain of Oz"

"You're funny," said Fiyero sarcastically.

"Alright, you're sure you want to do this?" Elphaba asked Dorothy again.

"Positive," she replied, nodding her head, before she turned to Fiyero, "Would you mind watching Toto for me while we're gone? I don't want to bring him, he gets anxious when he senses something's wrong."

Fiyero nodded and Dorothy gave Toto a quick squeeze and a scratch behind the ears before she placed him in Fiyero's arms and turned back to Elphaba.

Elphaba watched this exchange before she returned her gaze to the book and began to chant the words on the page in front of her. Half way through the spell she motioned for Glinda and Dorothy to join her and took their hands in hers. She continued to chant, and soon a strange tingling spread through the trio.

"Kansas," said Elphaba, after finishing the spell. There was a flash, and suddenly Glinda, Elphaba and Dorothy had disappeared from the room.

**And there we have it. All of you eager beavers who wanted that explanation so badly got it. I was gonna explain how she found that out in this chapter. I'm not _that_ bad with the plot holes. Well anyways, lemme just respond to a couple of reviews:**

**WickedJelly: Lol. I'm never going to live that line down am I? –insert little smiley face with its tongue sticking out ere cuz they don't show up- Anyways, yes, you are my first reviewer! Squee for you! If I had a cookie I would present it to you. –smiley face-**

**Sigma1: Heh, that would be interesting, but a little weird as well I think. Anyways, that's not where I'm heading with this, interesting as that is.**

**Well, that's all for now. Please leave me a review if you have time cuz they make me giddy with joy. I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly.**

**Till next time S.P.**


	3. Kansas

**Well, I wasn't going to post this chapter until Friday, but then I got so many awesome reviews and decided that I wanted to put it up a little early. I tried posting yesterdy, but something was up with the document manager. I'm glad this story had generated such a positive response thus far, and I appreciate all of the feedback!**

**Anyways, this chapter is pretty dull, it's pretty much just filler that's necessary to move the plot along. The next chapter will be much more interesting, trust. So anyways, here's chapter 3:**

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For a few moments, the three women experienced the sensation of flying forward at a rapid speed. However they soon came to a halt and were dumped unceremoniously onto the ground, tumbling head over heels.

After a few moments the trio stood up and looked around. They seemed to have landed on an unpaved dirt road, and the result was that their clothes were now dusted with the powdery brown soot. On either side of the road large stalks of corn were growing, their kernels glistening golden in the afternoon sun.

Elphaba and Glinda took in the surroundings for a moment before turning to Dorothy.

"Is this Kansas?" asked Glinda, looking around dazedly. She'd grown up in urban areas, and had never before seen dirt roads or corn fields. These sights were very unfamiliar to her.

Dorothy also looked around, but with a spark of recognition in her eyes, "I know this place. It's not very far from the farm that we used to live on." There was a hint of sadness in her tone as she spoke. She had grown up on that farm, and though it still existed, she knew she would never again call it home.

Elphaba stood and dusted herself off for a moment before speaking, "Where do we go from here?"

Dorothy replied, "We're about a mile away from the farm. It should only be about a 20 minute walk from here."

Elphaba nodded and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head to hide her face. She assumed that people here had never seen a green woman before. In fact, from what she could gather from Dorothy's descriptions, Kansas was even less exciting than Oz, with no magic or Animals or anything of that sort at all. Her appearance would probably cause more of a commotion here than it had in Oz, if that was even possible.

They began to amble along down the dirt road, Glinda feeling a bit ridiculous in her big puffy gown and wondering why she never changed her clothes before going off on these sorts of random adventures. She cursed herself for her love of beautiful, yet inconveniencing clothing.

The women walked together in silence. Dorothy had her hands folded in front of her and was staring at the ground, lost in thought, while Glinda's head swiveled back and forth as she tried to take in the unfamiliar looking landscape. Elphaba simply kept her eyes trained on the road ahead, wondering what on earth they were going to do once they actually reached the little Kansas farmhouse.

After about five minutes of walking, the dirt trail led them into a town, where small clusters of people bustled two and fro and venders sold their wears to passersby. Dorothy looked about as they passed through, searching for any familiar faces in the crowd. She recognized a woman who was selling eggs at a small booth and a man who was trying to haggle the price of five ears of corn just a few paces away. However, no one paid the three travelers any notice, and they passed through the small town undisturbed.

Elphaba and Glinda followed Dorothy as she pressed onward determinedly. This was not her home any longer. She no longer belonged here. She was a stranger to her own birthplace. She was determined not to stop and look around, afraid that the sadness she was feeling would overwhelm her and she would break down and cry again. As thy reached the edge of town, the road split in three directions, and Dorothy led them down the street to the right, still not saying a word.

Glinda and Elphaba exchanged a look behind Dorothy's back. Usually they couldn't get the girl to shut up, but today she was being oddly quiet. They were concerned for her, but said nothing as they walked silently forward, figuring she just needed to be left alone with her thoughts for a little while.

Eventually they came upon a small, slightly run down looking farm, and Dorothy turned and led them up the path to the house. Elphaba and Glinda looked around as they followed her. They'd heard Dorothy describe this very farm many times before, but had never thought they'd actually see it with their own eyes. It was obvious that the place had begun to fall apart a bit since Dorothy had last been there.

There were none of the animals she'd described, the chickens and pigs and cows she'd often told them about when she spoke of Kansas. Instead there were empty stables and chicken coups. Perhaps the animals had been sold with no one left to care for them. The grass was not a lush green, but rather a sad, wilted looking yellow, signifying that it had not been properly cared for in quite some time. The house itself wasn't in bad shape, but it looked empty and void of life. The sky had begun to darken as well, and it only furthered the deadened and ominous feel the place had to it.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Dorothy fell to her knees in the middle of the dirt path, dust flying up around her knees in clouds. Face buried in her hands, she could contain herself no longer as her tears began to fall once more. This was not how it was supposed to be. The farm had always been a happy place for her, always busy and full of life. The barren land they were now walking on was just an empty shell. Her aunt and uncle were gone, as were her friends and even the animals she'd used to feed every morning before sun up. She knew she'd left that chapter of her life behind when returning to Oz, but seeing it confirmed in such an awful way had caused all of the bottled up grief she'd been harboring to spill over the top.

Elphaba and Glinda were shocked by the sudden display, and could do nothing but look on as Dorothy knelt on the narrow path, sobs wracking her body. Eventually they went and stood next to her, deciding to wait until she was ready to pull herself together.

After a few minutes Dorothy finally managed to calm herself, taking slow, shaky breathes to regulate her breathing. She wiped the extra tears from her eyes, berating herself for breaking down so suddenly. She really needed to pull herself together; there were more important things to do right now than wallow in her own grief.

Suddenly Dorothy felt an arm seize her from either side, and she was gently helped to her feet by Elphaba and Glinda. Embarrassed for breaking down in front of them, she blushed, "Thanks."

"Are you OK?" asked Glinda, not sure what else to say in this situation. She couldn't imagine how hard this was on the poor girl. Glinda had lost her grandparents when she was younger, and it had been hard, but she'd still been surrounded by the rest of her family. Dorothy had absolutely no one left, and she was still so young.

Elphaba on the other hand, was more capable of understanding what Dorothy was feeling, having experienced such feelings not long ago. After Nessa had died, she'd thought Fiyero was dead and that Glinda had turned on her. She knew what it was like to have no one left, which was why she sympathized with Dorothy. The girl needed them right now. She had no one else to turn to.

"I'm OK," said Dorothy, only half believing the words herself. However, she said nothing else and simply turned and led them into the small farm house. Dorothy let the other two enter first, before she took a deep breath and followed them inside.

They found themselves in a small entrance hall with only a few bits of furniture. It had a musty smell about it, akin to the scent of mothballs. A potted plant sat in one corner, and an end table held a few yellowing photographs in dusty frames. Elphaba stole a glance as they walked by, and saw pictures of a young Dorothy standing with a man and woman Elphaba assumed to be Dorothy's aunt and uncle.

Dorothy, however; did not pause to look around, but turned to Elphaba and Glinda and addressed them, "The funeral is to take place here tomorrow. I suppose we'll just have to stay in the house until then. We can sleep here tonight and greet people when they arrive tomorrow."

With that she led them up a rickety wooden staircase, its chipped white paint signifying that it had been built quite some time ago. The stairs creaked as they climbed, and Glinda couldn't help the nervous feeling that the wood would splinter beneath their feet and send them tumbling to the floor in a shower of deadened wood and paint. However, they reached the top of the staircase unscathed, and Dorothy led them down a hallway and into a small bedroom at the end.

Dorothy entered the room and stopped in the middle, taking in the familiar sight of her old bedroom, the last she'd seen of Kansas before being sent to Oz so many weeks ago. She wandered over to the window and looked out, leaning her elbows against the wooden pane as she took in the view she'd seen so many times before.

Glinda and Elphaba entered the room behind her, feeling a bit crowded in the small space. Their eyes took in the twin bed with the wooden bedpost, an open closet that displayed Dorothy's meager wardrobe, and a small bedside stand with a couple of pictures stationed on the top. A shoe box lay opened next to the bed where Dorothy had left it after trying on the ruby slippers. Dorothy wondered if anyone had been in her room since she'd left, or if they simply hadn't wanted to move anything.

After a few moments, Dorothy turned back to them, "It's getting late. We should go to sleep. Elphaba, you can sleep in here and Glinda can sleep in Uncle Henry's bedroom. I'll go sleep downstairs on the couch."

"I'll take the couch," said Elphaba. She really didn't mind, she'd slept in much more unpleasant conditions. Besides, she thought it might feel a bit strange sleeping in Dorothy's old bedroom by herself. In fact, it was going to be strange sleeping anywhere by herself, as she hadn't slept without Fiyero beside her since they'd left the Emerald City together.

"Are you sure?" asked Dorothy.

Elphaba nodded in response, and Dorothy rummaged through her closet for a moment before emerging with a blanket and pillow. She handed them to Elphaba and said, "The couch is down in the living room. It's to the right of the entrance hall we passed through when we came in."

Elphaba nodded and she and Glinda bid Dorothy goodnight before leaving the room and closing the door behind them. Elphaba went downstairs to set up the couch for herself, and Glinda entered a bedroom on the other end of the hall, which she assumed was the one Dorothy had spoken of. Neither heard the soft, muffled sobs coming from Dorothy's room as the night grew darker and they slept soundly.

**Well, that's it. We're in Kansas. I wasn't sure whether or not I went a little overboard with the grieving Dorothy idea, but I imagine that if all of your relatives were dead and your home was abandoned you'd probably feel a bit overwhelmed. **

**Anyways, I'll take this time to answer a couple of reviews:**

**WickedJelly: 'Tis a common mistake. The name Hunk is pretty much drilled into my head because we did the Wizard of Oz for my school play when I was in seventh grade (coincidentally the same year that Wicked started on Broadway). It could be. What if I'm doomed to never have a smiley face ever again. I'm gonna cry. **

**Sadly you are not the first this time. But you can have a virtual cookie anyways.**

**Sigma1: Ugh no, don't even suggest it. I cannot stand it when Elphaba's skin is changed! She's green goddammit, leave the color. Sorry, I get annoyed when a good fic goes and changes Elphaba's skin, cuz then I can't read it any more cuz it bothers me.**

**elphabathedelerious32: I'm not sure if that was supposed to be a rhetorical comment, but I shouldn't be allowed to hammer things into the walls either. ;P**

**Well, that's all for now. Please leave me a review if you have the time and I'll try to get the next chapter up by this weekend or earlier. **

**Till next time S.P.**


	4. Unexpected Visitor

**OK guys, time for the next chapter. Thanks once again for your kind reviews and support. I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the story. This chapter should be a bit more interesting than the last one. Well, I'll answer reviews at the end of the chapter. Enjoy:**

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When Dorothy awoke the next morning, she thought perhaps she had gone back in time. Light filtered through the small square window, bringing a sort of familiar feeling to the old bedroom. However, in a few short moments she remembered the true reason she was here, and she sighed before sitting up in bed and wrapping her arms around her knees.

After a few moments, she found herself wondering what time it was. She left the room to head into the kitchen, where there was a small wall clock she could consult. She walked down the stairs slowly, trying to step over the creaky ones in case Elphaba was still asleep.

However, halfway down the stairs the silence was broken by a male cry of, "Holy Shit!" This was followed by a female shriek she recognized as Elphaba's and a loud thump. Eyes wide, Dorothy raced down the stairs to see what had happened. She thought perhaps someone had broken in, and she hoped whoever it was hadn't harmed Elphaba.

When she reached the living room, the scene that met her eyes was a far cry from what she had expected. Elphaba was on her feet, hands out in front of her, and had apparently paralyzed her attacker in place with a spell. His arms were locked behind his back and he was not moving save for his eyes, which were darting back and forth frantically.

Dorothy immediately recognized Elphaba's victim as Hunk, the same farmhand that had sent the letter that had drawn them out to Kansas in the first place. Her eyes grew wide as she raced into the room.

"Elphaba, let him go, he's one of my friends," she said. Hunk's eyes grew wide at the sight of Dorothy, but he was able to make no other signs of recognition.

"Oh, I'm sorry. He broke in and scared the crap out of me. I didn't know that was how people said hello in Kansas," Elphaba said sarcastically, dropping her arms. Hunk staggered backwards, gasping.

"Dorothy!" he shouted, seeming to forget Elphaba for only a moment as he gave the young girl a hug. Dorothy laughed as she returned it, overjoyed to see her old friend again.

However, the moment was cut short when he stepped back and asked urgently, "Dorothy what the hell? Where have you been? How did you get here? _Who the hell is that?_" On his last question he made a gesture toward Elphaba, who was standing a little ways off with her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised.

"Well…" Dorothy began, wondering if she should tell him the truth. After all, would he really believe that she'd spent her last two months living in the land of Oz in a town full of Animals? But she remembered his letter, and how he'd always seemed to listen more intently to her tales than the other farm hands. She decided to take a chance, "You see Hunk, those stories I was always telling were not just fairytales, Oz is a real place. A couple months ago I was sent there again by accident, and I've been living there ever since. But we got your letter, and I had to come back for Uncle Henry's funeral. This is Elphaba, one of my friends from Oz. She got us here with one of her spells."

Hunk raised an eyebrow but surprisingly did not seem as skeptical as Dorothy would have expected, "You know, I can't really explain it, but I always had a feeling…. I mean, the way you talked about that place, the details that you put into those stories, it didn't sound to me like something you'd just made up. I guess that's why I wrote you that letter in the first place, I had a feeling that if you were anywhere, it was in that world you'd talked about so excitedly when you were younger."

Dorothy smiled, "I didn't exactly expect you to believe me."

He paused for a moment, then glanced at Elphaba and said, "You say your friend here is from Oz. But…in you stories…isn't she…."

"The Wicked Witch of the West?" Dorothy laughed, Elphaba and gave her an annoyed look. Did half of Kansas believe the lies that Oz itself had just been purged of because of Dorothy's big mouth? "I used to think she was, but it turned out everything I told you about her wasn't true."

"I thought she tried to kill you?" he asked, sparing a wary glance to Elphaba.

Dorothy just shrugged and Elphaba, not liking where this conversation was going, said, "Umm…I'm going to go wake up her highness now." Without sparing a glance backwards, she disappeared up the stairs.

"She'd really not all that bad Hunk, you just have to get to know her," Dorothy assured him.

Hunk, however; was looking up the stairs in the direction Elphaba had just disappeared in, "How many friends from Oz did you bring here?"

"Oh, just two, Elphaba and Glinda," she said.

Hunk could have sworn Glinda had been the name of another witch who had helped Dorothy supposedly kill the Wicked Witch of the West. However, he figured he might have just gotten some points of the story mixed up, and so he kept his mouth closed.

A few moments later Elphaba returned, now with a drowsy looking Glinda trailing behind her. Glinda was running her hands through her hair, trying to flatten a spot that was sticking up because she had slept on it funny. Glinda looked up questioningly as they entered the living room. Dorothy also thought she saw Hunk blush a bit as Glinda descended the stairs, but she wrote it off as a trick of the light.

"So…you two are from Oz then?" he asked awkwardly. He couldn't say he wasn't a bit unsettled by the sight of a woman with green skin. He remembered that in Dorothy's description of Oz there was a green skinned woman who terrorized people for no reason and had locked Dorothy up and tried to kill her. If this was the very same woman, then why was she standing calmly in their living room while Dorothy claimed to be friends with her?

"Um…yes," said Elphaba, "We came with Dorothy to make sure she gets home alright."

"I don't understand though," he said slowly, "No offense, but I thought you were…"

"Wicked?" Elphaba finished, smirking slightly. As awkward as this situation was, she did find it slightly amusing watching the farmhand squirm.

"Well…yes," he said, and then turned to Dorothy, "I mean, isn't she the same person you talked about when you spoke of your first trip to Oz?"

"Well, yes and no," Dorothy started, "You see, I spoke of a Wicked Witch, but this is Elphaba. The Wicked Witch was just something that the Wizard of Oz made up to make people believe she was evil."

Hunk looked back and forth between Elphaba, Dorothy and Glinda, obviously still confused. Dorothy decided to change the subject, "So, are you the only other one coming to the funeral?"

"No, Zeke and Hickory are coming by later, as are a few of the neighbors," he said. He looked at Elphaba for a moment before he continued, "Elphaba is it? You should keep your skin covered while the others are here. I mean, I believe Dorothy's Oz stories, but I don't think anyone else is going to be so readily accepting. I mean, even Zeke and Hickory believe it's just a fairy tale."

"Thank you captain obvious," said Elphaba, rolling her eyes, "Because I certainly wouldn't have thought of that on my own."

Hunk looked at her for a moment before replying, "You're a bit sarcastic aren't you?"

Elphaba looked ready to respond (with a sarcastic remark, no doubt) but Glinda piped up instead, "You don't know that half of it."

Elphaba swatted playfully at Glinda's head, but Glinda ducked and stuck her tongue out at Elphaba. Hunk, seeing that he'd lost the women's attention but satisfied that neither of them appeared to be very threatening in any way, turned to Dorothy once more.

"Say Dorothy, where's Toto? I don't think I've ever seen you without the little mutt at your side."

"Oh I left him back in Oz with Boq and Fiyero, Glinda and Elphaba's husbands. They were the Scarecrow and Tinman before Elphaba changed them back into humans," Dorothy said, "I didn't want to drag him along."

Hunk shook his head, "Oz sounds like quite a place."

"Oh it is," said Dorothy. No matter how grave the circumstances, Dorothy was excited that she'd have a chance to speak with all of her old friends. She'd suddenly realized that she missed them terribly, "Anyway, I'm glad we ran into you Hunk. I wasn't sure exactly where we were supposed to go, or when for that matter,"

"Well, your uncle requested the funeral ceremony be held on the farm before we take him over to the cemetery to be buried next to your aunt. I was just coming by to make sure all of his possessions had been moved out when I startled your friend here. I suppose people will start arriving within the hour," he explained.

Dorothy's tone suddenly became serious, "Hunk, how was Uncle Henry after I left…?"

"Well, I don't really know Dorothy. I didn't really see much of him. Of course I helped with the search efforts when I heard you'd gone missing. Your Uncle seemed really distraught about the whole thing. They called off the search efforts about a month after they'd started and I didn't hear anything of your Uncle again until his death two weeks later."

Dorothy looked down at her feet, "This is all my fault. I should have been here for him."

Hunk became stern, "Look, there was nothing you could have done to prevent this, and beating yourself up over it won't help any."

Dorothy smiled weakly and hugged him, clearly not feeling much better, and he gave her a gentle pat on the back. However, there came a sudden knock at the door, and Hunk pulled away from Dorothy. Turning to Elphaba he said, "Cover your face, we've got company."

**And now one of the farmhands has entered the story. I hope Hunk's ready acceptance of Oz was believable enough. He seemed to be closest to Dorothy, and I felt that he might believe her if anyone did. Either way, he needed to believe her to move the story along, and you'll see why in later chapters.**

**I'll just answer a couple of reviews now:**

**WickedJelly: Sorry I didn't get a chance to respond to your PM, I've had a busy week. I shall respond now. I used to not sing when my parents were around, but then I just stopped caring what they thought of it and now they want to kill me P. Enjoyed it? I think I was traumatized. Besides the fact that we were dancing poppies and I can't dance to save my life. Sadly I don't think this curse shall lift. I shall be doomed to have half-smileys for all eternity.**

**S'OK, I was just wonderin'.**

**The-Good-Die-Alone: Ooooh. What does this icon say? **

**GldWlf: Hmmm…I guess people in Kansas are just completely oblivious. Either that or the author just wanted to get this chapter done…. Nah, it's probably the first one. P**

**Sigma1: I was wondering whether or not to make Hunk resemble Fiyero, but eventually decided against it. I know he was the Scarecrow's parallel in the Wizard of Oz, but it just seemed like such an unnecessary distraction…**

**Disneyqueen: Well, I find it strange that you ask that but not how the farm house is even there if it crash landed in Oz. No, I'm kidding. Truth is, it didn't really cross my mind when I was writing the chapter. Anyways, it was more focused on Dorothy, and I think she's angsting enough for all of them at the moment.**

**X-Kate-X: Squee! I'm a Fiyeraba addict too. Go us. P**

**Well. That's all for now folks. Please leave a review telling me what you thought and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.**

**Till next time S.P.**


	5. Mourning

**OK, so my life has been really hectic this past week. I've seriously gone to school, driver's ed, come home for dinner, gone to a different high school for play practice, done my homework and gone to sleep. Actually, I'm not supposed to be home right now, I was just going to stay at the high school after driver's ed and go straight to play, but I walked home because I wanted to actually eat dinner and change out of my uniform. **

**Well anyway, needless to say, I haven't exactly had much time to write. This chapter was prewritten, but I might not have much time to write the next one until the play is over on March 28. Please bear with me until then. Here's the next chapter.**

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Everyone in the room exchanged a glance as the knocking at the door continued. Elphaba covered her face with her hood and Hunk moved to the front of their party. They all followed him to the door and he opened it, a smile firmly fixed on his face.

The guest was Hickory, another of the farmhands who had come to pay respects to Dorothy's uncle. He seemed surprised to see so many people already in the house, but his eyes widened considerably when he recognized one of them as Dorothy.

"Dorothy!" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. He'd been greatly upset when she'd been missing and presumed dead. She was such a sweet girl, and it would have been terrible for her life to have been cut short that way, "Where on earth did you come from?"

Dorothy wasn't quite sure how to answer that question. Hickory had always been much more down to earth than Hunk, and she seriously doubted he would believe her tales about Oz.

She was spared having to answer by Hunk, "Turns out our Dorothy here ran away those months ago. She's been living with some friends she made, and she came back when she heard the unfortunate news." It wasn't too far from the truth, and it seemed more plausible as well.

"Well I'm really glad to see you," he said, giving her a brief hug, "You really gave all of us a scare you know."

Dorothy smiled a bit, "I'm glad to see you too Hickory."

"Dorothy?" came yet another voice, and the group looked up to see Zeke, the third of the farmhands, had appeared in the doorway, "What on earth?" Hunk repeated the story he'd made up for Hickory and Zeke also gave Dorothy a brief hug.

"At least something good came out of all of this," said Zeke sadly. All of them shared a moment of awkward silence after the statement. Glinda and Elphaba stood close together, feeling very much out of place in this little reunion.

Hickory suddenly seemed to notice the two unfamiliar women standing at the back of the group, "Who are your friends?"

"These are the friends Dorothy has been staying with," Hunk said quickly, not giving anyone else a chance to answer.

"They offered to come along with me for support," said Dorothy.

"Well, nice to meet you. Anyone who's been taking care of little Dorothy over here is a friend of mine," said Zeke. He regarded them skeptically, no doubt because of their odd choice of apparel, but nonetheless stuck out his hand and shook Glinda's enthusiastically. However, Elphaba could not show her hand, and kept them hidden in her sleeves. He looked confused for a moment when she made no move to respond to his greeting.

"Umm…she's a bit shy," said Dorothy unsurely, realizing what was happening.

Hickory said, "Ah, don't be shy here, you're among friends."

Thankfully Zeke's hand had returned to his side as he responded, "Yeah, we don't bite."

"Much," Hickory added, smiling goofily. Hunk rolled his eyes. The two of them used the stupid joke on everyone they met.

"Well," said Zeke, becoming suddenly solemn, "I think we're about ready to begin the ceremony. The priest was setting up the podium when I got here."

"Alright then, let's head outside," said Hunk, sticking his hands into the pocket of his overalls, a nervous habit of his.

The small party proceeded outside in silence. Hunk, Hickory, Zeke and Dorothy seemed to be in a state of silent remorse. Elphaba and Glinda trailed along behind, feeling a bit awkward. They felt bad for Dorothy, but they hadn't known her Uncle Henry and therefore could not feel the same grief at his passing.

They walked across the deadened yard once more, but this time it did not seem as deserted due to the small cluster of people gathered in a small group a short distance away. There was a coffin off to the side, and Dorothy began to cry silently again at the sight of it, her throat burning with suppressed sobs.

They joined the small group, which pretty much consisted of three of Dorothy's neighbors, and the six of them who had just arrived. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry hadn't really been off the farm too often, except to go into town, and so they didn't really have a close relationship with many people. Combined with the fact that they lived on a farm with not many neighbors within walking distance it meant that not many people would have turned up for the funeral. There had not been many at Auntie Em's either come to think of it, but Dorothy didn't think her aunt and uncle would have minded. They'd preferred to keep to themselves a lot anyway.

If anyone in the group was curious about the black cloaked figure and the blond woman in the tiara who had joined their party, they didn't say anything. The three other people in the group were, however; incredibly surprised to see Dorothy and she was hugged and fawned over for several minutes. Dorothy hadn't realized that everyone in Kansas had thought she was dead. She supposed that was what happened when you ran away to another world for two months, everyone just assumed the worst.

The priest called for everyone's attention, and they all quieted down. All faces became solemn as the ceremony began, and everyone who had actual known Uncle Henry stayed close together, while Glinda and Ephaba stood to the back, feeling like intruders. Elphaba clutched her hood together from the inside, afraid that someone would catch a glimpse of green from underneath. Glinda felt extremely out of place in her puffy lavender gown. Elphaba might have to hide her face, but at least she was dressed in the proper color attire.

After the sermon was finished, they were all forced to climb into a strange looking long, black machine. Glinda and Elphaba were wary, but the others climbed in without a second thought. Glinda and Elphaba finally got in after some hesitation, both thinking about how different this Kansa funeral was than the ones in Oz. The large coffin was put into another of the machines behind them, and they suddenly began to move. Glinda and Elphaba clutched the seats with wide eyes, unsure about what was going on, and Dorothy couldn't help but smile at her friends' apprehension. It was a bit funny that they could fly around on a broom or in a bubble, but they were nervous about the slow moving hearse. Eventually they calmed down enough to relax, but it seemed that neither could gather the courage to glance out the windows.

They were driven along a narrow and nearly deserted road until they reached a strange field filled with what looked like different sized stones. It was surrounded by a worn looking wrought iron fence, and the hearse pulled in. It was stopped in from of a huge hole in the ground, which was roped off and surrounded by flowers. They all went out of the car. Dorothy's face was contorted as though she was trying to keep her tears in, and one of the elderly ladies who had showed up was crying openly. Glinda and Elphaba were both wondering what in Oz was going on.

A prayer was said, and finally the coffin was lowered into the grave. Dorothy had moved over to the side and was hiding her face in her hands. Glinda and Elphaba went over and stood with her, trying to offer moral support. They did not quite understand what was going on, but they could see that Dorothy was clearly distressed, and they had a nagging suspicion about what was in that large box. The thought made them cringe.

After what seemed like an eternity, the small crowd filed back into the hearse and they left the graveyard behind. Dorothy had her eyes closed and was resting her head against the window. Elphaba and Glinda sat next to her, still a bit nervous about being in any sort of car for the first time. In Oz, horse and carriage was the most advanced way to travel.

The hearse pulled back up to the farm, and the guests stepped out, Glinda and Elphaba a bit more cautiously than the rest. The neighbors expressed their grief one last time, pulled Dorothy into a hug and, with one last curious look at the two oddly dressed strangers, they departed, all heading back to their respective homes. Now the original six of them remained.

"We should head inside and have something to eat," said Hunk, breaking the awkward silence after a few moments, "I brought some food over, come on."

With that, the group was in motion again, the six of them trudging back to the farm house with Hunk at the head. They arrived in the small entrance hall, and Hunk said, "Why don't the guys and I make dinner? You ladies can wait over in the living room."

Dorothy looked about to protest, but Glinda grabbed her arm and pulled her away, Elphaba right behind. They didn't care if Dorothy wanted to help, the less time they spent in the presence of Hickory and Zeke, the less chance there was for them to discover Elphaba's irregular skin tone. The funeral was over; if they just made it through dinner they could head back to Oz right afterward.

The three of them sat on the worn couch in the living room in silence for a while, before Dorothy spoke up, surprising her two friends.

"I can't thank you two enough for coming with me," she said quietly. Elphaba thought she might cry again, but when Dorothy looked up she was smiling slightly, "I appreciated having you two there."

"You feel any better now?" asked Glinda.

"Yes," said Dorothy, "I said what needed to be said to Uncle Henry. At least now I don't have to feel as if I abandoned him."

"I'm glad we could help. You're ready to leave after we eat though aren't you? We should probably be getting back to Oz as soon as possible," said Elphaba.

"Yes," said Dorothy, "It was nice to see my old friends again, but Oz is my home now, and I must say I'm feeling a bit home sick."

Elphaba and Glinda smiled, and the room then lapsed back into an awkward silence. After a few moments, Glinda spoke up again. "Funerals in Kansas are weird," she commented, trying to lighten the mood.

Dorothy laughed a bit, "How so?"

"Well, I mean, what was that long black thing they made us sit in? It made me dizzy," Glinda responded.

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "You ride around in those pink bubbles. If they don't make you dizzy then I was under the impression that nothing could."

"Well, look who's talking. You ride around on a broomstick. That's not exactly first class travel either," Glinda retaliated.

"Yes, but I'm not the one who said that the black machine thing made me dizzy now am I?"

"Oh please, you were as uncomfortable as I was, just admit it!"

Dorothy smiled a bit at the friends' quarrel before she decided to step in, "It's called a hearse. It's a car you use in a funeral procession. It's used to transport the guests and coffin to the cemetery."

"Car?" asked Glinda curiously.

"Cemetery…" said Elphaba, as if trying out the foreign word.

"Never mind," said Dorothy, "If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for funerals in Oz?"

"Well," started Glinda, "There's usually a short meeting at the family's home for guests and well wishers, and then the body is burned and the ashes scattered wherever the person had specified before death. Then their name is carved on a wall in one of the funeral halls so that the family can pay respects there."

"Oh, we do that too sometimes," said Dorothy, "Except for the carving the name on the wall part. But here it's more common to bury the person and carve their name on a headstone, which gets placed above their coffin."

Glinda thought this practice sounded a bit barbaric, but said nothing. Elphaba cringed a bit at the thought of being lowered into the dirt in a wooden box. They waited for a few more minutes in silence before Hunk came out of the kitchen and beckoned them in.

**Well, that's all. I know, I know, incredibly boring, but I felt I needed to show the funeral. I didn't want to end the chapter there really, but it was getting long so I had to cut the rest and add it to the next chapter.**

**Anyway, thanks for all of the awesome reviews from last time. I appreciate them. I'll just respond to a couple now:**

**WickedJelly: I dunno, if I had a green woman seemingly appear out of no where and freeze me where I stood in the middle of my living room I might be a bit more accepting of Oz. Of course, that's just me. **

**Yeah, last year we did a skit for the talent show about what goes on before a school play, and they cast me as the dancer who didn't know her steps and kept tripping over herself. Needless to say, it didn't take much acting on my part.**

**Noooo! I shall be cursed forever! ; ;**

**The-Good-Die-Alone: Oh my God, I love Scott Westerfeld! The Uglies Trilogy and Peeps are some of my favorite books in the world, even with the strange overuse of "bubbly" and "bogus". **

**CurlyCurlz: Yep, that's Hunk!**

**Till next time S.P.**


	6. A Horrible Realization

**Well I finally found time to update. It snowed about two feet yesterday in my borough of the wonderful NYC, and I was blessed with a snow day, during which time I wrote this chapter. It's a bit late, but much earlier than I was expecting to get it out. This is basically the climax of the story, so hopefully you won't find it too terribly boring. Anyways, here's chapter 6:**

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Hunk came out of the kitchen and addressed the three, "Dinner is served," he said, making a dramatic gesture toward the kitchen door and bowing deeply as the women walked past. Dorothy whacked him playfully on the head as she walked by, which made him laugh and straighten back up.

Elphaba and Glinda looked at the table for a moment, which had four matching chairs and two others that had obviously been dragged over from somewhere else in the house, before slowly making their way to a seat. Glinda sat next to Zeke, while Elphaba sat down on her right. Dorothy took the seat next to Elphaba, and Hunk finished placing food on the table before he took the only remaining seat.

Elphaba wondered what she could possibly do to eat without revealing her hands and face at all. She carefully picked up a fork, keeping the back end of it in her sleeve so she would not have to show her hand. Zeke and Hickory gave her a strange look, but she ignored them. In an hour or so she'd never see these men again; she really didn't care what they thought of her.

"Sooo…" said Zeke, addressing the two strange women. One of them was dressed much too elegantly to be from around these parts and he hadn't even seen the face of the other, for she would not pull down the hood of her cloak, "You're friends of Dorothy's then. Where ya from?"

Elphaba, Glinda and Dorothy all exchanged a look. It was Elphaba who decided to take the initiative, "Umm…from a town not far from here. To the…west."

"The west huh?" said Zeke, pausing for a moment, "The next town over in the direction is pretty far away. You must have had quite a journey to get here."

"Yes, we did travel quite a ways," said Elphaba carefully.

"How'd you meet our Dorothy over here anyway?" he asked.

Elphaba didn't know what this interrogation was about, but she knew that this man didn't exactly trust her and Glinda. She thought about her response for a moment before she spoke. It had to at least sound plausible, "We, my friend Glinda and I, I mean, we were out walking and we saw her trudging down the street. She looked a bit beat up, so we asked her if she was alright. She was a bit wary at first, but she told us her story eventually, and we sort of took her in. She's been staying at my house ever since."

Zeke still looked skeptical, but the story seemed to satisfy him for the moment, "So, if you don't mind my asking, how did you even hear about this funeral if you live so far away.

Elphaba froze, as did Glinda, Dorothy and Hunk, who had all been listening to her explanations with slight apprehension. This was one question they hadn't counted on having to answer. After all, Hunk was supposed to be playing dumb about this whole thing, so how could they say they'd received a letter from him. There didn't seem to be any plausible way to answer that question.

"We uh…read it in the newspaper," said Elphaba unsurely.

"We didn't put anything about it in the paper," said Zeke, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Uh…I did. I send the obituary to the paper a couple of days ago along with the time of the funeral. Must have slipped my mind," said Hunk quickly, playing along with Elphaba's story.

"Oh really? You never told us that," said Zeke, as Hunk and the three travelers breathed an internal sigh of relief.

However, they were put on guard again as Hickory spoke up, "Why don't you take that cloak off?" he asked Elphaba, "You must be a little warm, it's awful stuffy in here."

Elphaba replied almost instantly, "That's alright, I'm a bit chilly actually. I'd rather just keep it on."

"Why don't you at least pull the hood down?" he asked. He was curious as to why this woman was so adamant about hiding her face.

"Hickory, just leave the girl alone. If she wants to keep her hood up than what's it any of your business?" said Hunk, trying to shut his friend up.

Dorothy, seeing that the meal was finished, figured this was as good a time as any to leave before things got messy, "Well, it's been wonderful to see you all again, but we really should be going before it gets too dark out. We have quite a journey ahead of us."

"You sure you want to go Dorothy? You could stay with one of us until we find you another place to go. It really wouldn't be any trouble," said Zeke, sounding concerned. He didn't know how much he liked the thought have having Dorothy going off with these two women again, no matter how much she seemed to trust them.

"Oh no, it's fine. This isn't my home anymore Zeke," said Dorothy.

"Alright, I'm just glad to see you're OK. We'll miss you 'round here," said Zeke, looking a bit more hurt by Dorothy's comment than she'd intended.

The three farm hands each gave Dorothy a hug, and finally the three women left. Dorothy felt a bit of sadness tugging at her heart as they walked away. She wondered briefly if it would be possible to send Hunk letters by carrier pigeon, since they could obviously transfer between Oz and Kansas.

The three of them passed back through the small town, which was not nearly as full as it had been the morning of their arrival. A few people walked two and fro, ambling through the square or passing in and out of the few indoor shops that lined the street on either side. The trio walked along in companionable silence, feeling a bit peaceful in the calm of early evening. They were walking along at a steady pace when Elphaba suddenly stopped moving.

Glinda and Dorothy, confused by their friend's strange behavior, turned and glanced in the direction Elphaba was facing, wondering what had caused the abrupt halt. Glinda's mouth dropped open.

There, stepping out of a small shop across the street, was the Wizard of Oz. Glinda blinked a few times, as if expecting the man to vanish from in front of her eyes. However, he simply glanced into his bag of groceries quickly stepped out of the door frame. For a moment Glinda wondered if it was simply someone who looked like the Wizard, but she knew in the back of her mind it was true. She could not mistake that face, and after all, Kansas was where the Wizard hailed from.

Dorothy too recognized the man, and wondered how often he'd been coming into town, for she'd never seen him in Kansas before. Glinda glanced over at Elphaba, but could not read her facial expression because of the dark hood still hiding her face from view. However, she could see her friend's hands balling into tight fists and decided that all three of them should get out of there before anything happened. She glanced back up at the place where the Wizard had been standing, and the two locked eyes.

Glinda's breath caught in her throat as she tore her eyes away quickly. She hoped for a moment that he'd just continue on his way, but the damage was done. A look of confusion and recognition passed over the Wizard's face, and he suddenly began to move toward them. Glinda began to frantically tug on Elphaba's sleeve, but her friend remained rooted in place. Dorothy began to worry as well, whether it was that Elphaba would be harmed or blow the Wizard up where he stood she was not yet sure.

However, they did not have long to worry about the issue, for in a matter of moments the Wizard of Oz stood before them.

The Wizard cleared his throat, clearly as surprised by the unexpected encounter as the women were, "So it _is _you," he said softly, sounding more as if he was mumbling to himself, "What on earth are you doing in Kansas Ms. Glinda? Miss Dorothy, I didn't expect to se you here either."

Glinda simply gaped at him, unsure how to react, and Dorothy would not look him in the eye. It was Elphaba who spoke up, "You'd better get the hell away from us before I do something _you'll _regret," she growled through clenched teeth.

The Wizard seemed taken aback for a moment, but a look of shock soon came to his face as he realized who the voice belonged to, "Elphaba?" he asked tentatively, sounding bewildered. They all knew why; the Wizard believed that Elphaba had been melted.

"Yes, I'm sorry to disappoint you. It must be so upsetting to the great Wizard of Oz to know he didn't succeed in his assisted _homicide_," she said sarcastically, but her tone was seething.

"No, no my dear, quite the contrary!" said the Wizard, now taking on a jovial air, I know we've had our differences in the past-"

Elphaba cut him off, "Differences? You turned the whole of Oz against me you bastard! You tried to have me _killed_,"

The Wizard continued on as if he hadn't heard her, "But you see, Miss Glinda here told me some terribly surprising news after you'd umm…well melted. You see it appears that, well, I'm actually…your father."

This statement was the last thing Elphaba was expecting to hear, and it caught her completely off guard. Her hands dropped to her side and she took an involuntary step back. "You're lying," she said, but she sounded uncertain, and all traces of venom had disappeared from her voice. She turned to Glinda, half begging, "Glinda, tell me he's lying!"

However Glinda said nothing, and had suddenly become very interested in her shoes. Elphaba didn't move for a moment, but even with the hood shrouding her face Dorothy could tell she was stricken.

The Wizard seemed to take this as his cue to continue, "Now I know you have a lot of anger, but I'd like to try to start over. I'd like to try to be a father figure to you, if you'll let me."

He smiled at Elphaba as he waited for her response, and Glinda found herself wondering exactly how deluded this man was. Elphaba was not a very forgiving person to begin with, and considering the Wizard was the one human being she despised among all others, Glinda was positive she was not going to hug him and call him 'Daddy'.

Elphaba froze in place for a moment. She was lost and confused, and she couldn't believe that Glinda had known this all along and said nothing about it. Elphaba's brain had stopped working, and so her legs took over. Turning on her heel, she turned and ran as quickly as she could in the opposite direction. Glinda and Dorothy, surprised by this rather out of character action, followed as quickly as they could.

Elphaba sprinted for all she as worth, not sure exactly where she was going, as she'd given no thought to the sudden departure. Her hood flapped back in the wind and her face was revealed, but she did not slow her sprint. Dorothy was right on her tail, with Glinda staggering behind as her high heels twisted beneath her feet in protest.

They came to dirt road where they'd first arrived. Elphaba reached inside her cloak, and suddenly froze, her face contorting into a look of horror as her hand came back empty. She suddenly as she came to a very disturbing realization.

"Sweet Oz," she breathed, her voice shaking, "I don't have the Grimmerie!"

**And there we have it, the plot beginning to thicken a bit. Yes I know, I have once again ended with a cliffhanger. I'd get used to it, I'm pretty sure the next several chapters are going to end this way.**

**So anyways, I managed to get two chapters written, this one and the next one, so we should at least have an update next week as well. Then I'll have more time to write during Easter break, which starts March 30 for me. I'm so excited. I'm going to see RENT on Broadway on April 14, and if my luck holds I'm going to see Wicked again on May 9th. I'm one happy little theatre geek.**

**OK, I'll just take this time to answer a couple of reviews:**

**Firebolt669: We're doing Soutch Pacific and I'm a nurse, which is one of three parts of the female chorus (we lowely sophomores don't get actual roles P). We're basically Nellie's friends, which are the nurses and ensigns, the only difference being that the ensigns dance and the nurses don't. The other part is the French girls, but they're only in one scene. Then there's the male chorus. I'm sure you stopped caring about 2 sentences ago. P**

**The-Good-Die-Alone: Lol, me and my friend Alex went around saying things like 'sad-making' and 'bubbly' for about a month after I made her read them. Of course we both have really short attention spans, so it kind of died after a while.**

**I know what you mean, Uncle Henry isn't really an important character, but he serves to make Dorothy angsty. And omg, to this day Wicked is the only thing that made me actually cry. Some scenes in movies or plays make me emotional, but I never actually cry. For Good shattered me. Good thing it was dark or my brother probably would have pointed and laughed, and my aunt didn't even like the show (I still haven't forgiven her), so she certainly wasn't crying either.**

**Wicked Jelly: I know, I hate that joke. That's why I put it in, I figured Hickory and Zeke would be the type of goofy, slightly annoying individuals who would use it.**

**Yeah we have a fall musical and a talent show at my school every year (the play I'm in right now is at a different school). Me being the theatre geek I am I participate in everything the drama club does, so I did a talent act and signed up for the one acts. I like to keep myself very busy. **

**Please do, I'm quite disheartened by my lack of smileys. I usually use them excessively. Now…nothing. ; ;**

**Well, that's all for now. Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought!**

**Till next time S.P.**


	7. Outlawed

**Once again I must thank my awesome reviewers for their constructive criticism and support. It makes my day to see my inbox filled with reviews. Anyways, that's basically the reason I'm putting this chapter up early. That and the fact that I had a four day weekend. I'm quite an idiot though. Friday was snow day, but I didn't realize it and was leaving the house in my uniform already when my dad told me school was cancelled. Then yesterday I was off for St. Joseph's day (My school is named for St. Joseph, so we get off) and I totally forgot and was waiting for my ride. They were twenty minutes late when I realized I didn't have school.**

**But anyway enough of my idiocy. At least the weekend gave me time to write another chapter, and therefore I'm posting this one early. I probably won't have much time this weekend. I have a 13 hour long play practice on Sunday. How fun for me.**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter:**

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There was a moment of silence as Glinda and Dorothy tried to process what had just come out of Elphaba's mouth. Glinda was the first to speak up, "Elphie you can't be serious. You had it with you at the farm house didn't you?"

Elphaba thought for a moment but, to her horror, found that she could not really remember. She'd been so caught up in everything that had been going on with Dorothy that she hadn't even thought about the large book until this moment. She tried as hard as she could to remember what she'd done with it, but it was as if there was a haze hanging over her memory.

"Do you remember the spell at all? Maybe we don't need the Grimmerie to get back," suggested Dorothy.

"No, I didn't memorize it, I didn't think I'd need to," Elphaba shouted, perhaps a bit too harshly. The stress of this situation was getting to her, and the shock from her encounter with the Wizard had not yet worn off, "Besides, if I did leave the Grimmerie at the farm we have to retrieve it. Even if we didn't need it to get back I can't leave it, especially not with that lying bastard showing his face around here."

"So are we going back to the farm then?" asked Dorothy. She was both excited and put off by the idea. She really would miss her friends, but the longer she spent here the harder it was going to be to let go. She wished they could just leave before there was time for any of these feelings to bubble to the surface.

If Dorothy was reluctant, Elphaba was even worse. She wanted nothing more to get the hell out of here. Kansas has not been a particularly good experience in the first place, but she missed Fiyero and her home terribly and wanted to be as far from the Wizard as was humanly possible. She also didn't know what she was going to say when they did return to the farm. 'Oh, sorry to trouble you, did I leave an old leather bound spell book on your couch?' didn't seem very appropriate.

No one moved a muscle for several moments, until Glinda began to shift restlessly. She didn't care what course of action they took as long as they did something. She wanted to get home as badly as Elphaba did. Kansas was strange and, though it had been exciting at first, she was not at all enchanted by the rural life style or the dirt roads. Not to mention the fact that her favorite pair of heels was absolutely _ruined._

"Elphie are we going back to the farm or not," Glinda said finally, and her voice seemed to snap Elphaba out of her trance.

"It doesn't seem like we have a choice," Elphaba muttered through clenched teeth. She just hoped they didn't run into the Wizard again, because she didn't know if she'd be able to restrain herself this time. To think that he was her _father_; that she was the spawn of that _scum._ Regardless she shoved these thoughts aside and stood up.

"Well come on then, I'd really rather get out of here as soon as possible," she barked, and whipped her cape around behind her as she stalked off down the dirt road in the direction they'd come.

Glinda and Dorothy exchanged a look but said nothing. Elphaba was clearly not in the mood right now, and all traces of her usual persona had vanished. Elphaba was never particularly bubbly like Glinda was, but she was never in this sour of a mood unless she was greatly upset by something. It was best to keep a safe distance and say nothing when she got like this.

They walked down the path once more, this time at a more urgent speed. Elphaba's eyes darted around wildly as they passed through town, but luckily the square was completely empty now, as the sky had darkened to a deep blue and the air had taken on a rather unpleasant chill. Glinda wrapped her arms around herself and Dorothy began to shiver, but Elphaba made no sign of noticing the temperature drop as she continued forward. Glinda and Dorothy were practically jogging to keep up with her at this point.

They reached the farm house more quickly this time, and did not stop as they walked across the fields. Only when she reached the front door did Elphaba finally stop walking and allow Dorothy to pass to the front of the group. Dorothy looked unsure for a moment before she knocked on the door tentatively, wondering if any of the men were still inside.

Hunk answered the door a few moments later and seemed surprised to see them standing there. Dorothy wasted no time whispering a hasty explanation, "We think Elphaba may have left something very important in the living room. We had to come back and find it." She left out everything else that had happened since they'd left the house. It didn't seem important and Hunk wouldn't have understood anyway.

Hunk nodded and let them pass by and enter the house. They passed the kitchen were Hickory and Zeke were still seated at the table. They looked up curiously as they noticed the three women, awaiting an explanation. It was Dorothy who provided one, "Hello, sorry, we think that my friend Glinda here may have left her pocket book in the living room. We were already out of town when we realized it and had to come all the way back."

Zeke and Hickory nodded at the explanation. Dorothy was rather surprised that the three men had not yet gone home, but she supposed they were catching up, as it was probably the first reunion they'd had in a while.

Saying nothing more, the three women proceeded into the living room, where Elphaba began searching the couch. When she did not find the book there she checked underneath and then walked all around the room. She let out a frustrated huff as her efforts produced no results.

"Did you maybe put it down upstairs yesterday?" suggested Glinda, motioning toward the staircase. Elphaba said nothing, but immediately proceeded upstairs. Dorothy and Glinda wondered whether or not to follow, but decided against it, for Elphaba would be done in a few moments. They watched the stairs hopefully, but their faces fell when Elphaba returned empty handed, now looking extremely concerned.

"It's not here," she murmured with wide eyes, voicing the thoughts of everyone in the room.

Fear found its way into Glinda's voice. "Then…how are we supposed to get home." She already knew the answer, but the question hung heavy in the air all the same.

"I don't know," said Elphaba tensely, not meeting her friends eyes.

"M-maybe we should retrace our steps," said Dorothy worriedly, "You had to bring it with you."

"I guess it's the best plan we have right now," Elphaba conceded. She did not respond to the second part of Dorothy's statement. In truth doubt was beginning to creep into her mind. When she'd been chanting she'd held on to Glinda and Dorothy, but she had not been touching the Grimmerie. What if that meant that the spellbook had been left back in Oz this entire time? She pushed the thoughts from her mind, not allowing herself to believe it. That book had to be somewhere in this world. It just had to.

In unison the three of them began to move, and left the room quickly. They passed back into the entrance hall and the men looked up again as they walked by.

"Find what you were looking for?" asked Hickory.

"Um yes, thank you guys. Goodbye again," said Dorothy quickly.

"Bye Dorothy," said Zeke, and they all gave her a wave. Looking up, she realized that Elphaba and Glinda were already out the door, and she gave the men a quick wave before rushing to catch up with them.

They passed back across the fields once more, an act that was getting old by this point. By now the sky was pitch black and millions of stars dotted the night sky. Were their situation less serious Glinda would have stopped to admire them for a moment. You couldn't see the stars like this in the Emerald City.

However Glinda had to keep moving or be left behind, for Elphaba, still running on adrenaline and rage, was not slowing her steps for anything. Within the span of 10 minutes they were once again passing through the square. Elphaba stopped in the middle and turned to her companions.

"Maybe someone found it and brought it into one of these stores. We should check them out," said Elphaba.

"But they're closed by now," Dorothy pointed out, motioning to the red signs posted on all of the doors.

"As if I don't have a spell to get passed a simple padlock," Elphaba retaliated, and Dorothy was silenced by the statement.

However, they had no time to enter a shop, for three figures with flashlights were fast approaching them. The three squinted at the sudden light, wondering what was going on. Their eyes grew wide as each of them was seized by one of the figures, their arms locked firmly behind their backs.

Elphaba just had time to register that she had never pulled her hood back up after it had flown off of her face before the guard holding her spoke, "This one's green," he said, and Elphaba could almost hear the disgust in his voice. For a moment she thought he'd take a step back in his shock, but his hands continued to hold her firmly in place.

"We got a report from an anonymous caller of three strange women who tried to assault him in this square earlier today. You three fit the description perfectly. You're under arrest for charges of assault."

Dorothy's eyes widened as she realized these three were policemen, and even Elphaba and Glinda realized they must be this world's equivalent of the gale force. Elphaba's eyes narrowed as she realized what the cop had said.

_Anonymous caller._

The Wizard had given them up.

**Yes, I view the Wizard as a manipulative, conniving bastard. My language won't get much worse than it was in this chapter, so I'm not going to change the rating for that. I don't generally swear much, but I need Elphie to be pretty pissed off.**

**OK, I'll just answer a couple of reviewers:**

**elphabathedelerious32: Lol, I randomly lapse into Spanish sometimes. On occasion I'll say something in Latin, but I think I forgot most of what I learned of that language over the summer. Can't say I know any German swear words though.**

**Sigma1: Were you expecting something more along those lines? Or something more like fear, anger or sorrow or something? Anyways, I decided to portray him sort of how he was in Wonderful. Try to sweet talk Elphaba into trusting him, then turning on her when she refuses.**

**The-Good-Die-Alone: Congratulations. That's a very special day in the life of a Wicked obsessor (that's not a word is it?). It'll be my third year anniversary in August. I think I shall make green frosted cupcakes to celebrate. P**

**WickedJelly: Nooooo me need tickeeeets. O.O **

**I generally tend to just use an equal sign for the eyes and then a P for the mouth for the tongue sticky outy one. Or the wide eyes with two O's and a period, or two carets for the happy face.**

**OMGitsASH: Wow, that's really cool. You seeing it on Broadway too? If you are I'll prolly see you and not know who the heck you are. I'd be the tall blond girl in the Wicked t-shirt and a navy blue swim team jacket. Maybe I should wear my visor with the giant Styrofoam dolphin on the top. That thing tends to stand out in a crowd. :P**

**Well, that's all for now. Please leave a review if you have the time because I really appreciate them! Well, I'm off to play practice. **

**Till next time S.P.**


	8. On the Run

**OK guys, here's the next chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews, they're much appreciated as always. Really nothing else to say here this time, I'll answer reviews and stuff after the chapter. It's a bit boring, but a necessary segway into the next part of the story. **

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Elphaba had a split second to make a decision before the three of them were taken to wherever fugitives were brought in Kansas. She imagined it had to be some kind of dungeon, or at least something similar to where criminals in Oz were put. Each of the cops took a set of handcuffs from their belt, and Elphaba's eyes narrowed as she made a decision.

Not even stopping to think of the consequences, Elphaba chanted a quick spell and felt the pressure immediately release from her arms as the cops were throw to the ground by an invisible force. Each emitted shouts of surprise, but they were no match for the powerful magic. Glinda and Dorothy looked to Elphaba, who was panting heavily with rage. She looked down at the guards, who were staring up at her from their places on the ground with wide eyes, before turning to her two companions.

"That spell should keep them paralyzed for only a few minutes. We need to move," she said quickly. She couldn't believe this was happening. She'd just gotten over fugitive status in Oz and now she was running from the law in Kansas. She supposed this was the story of her life.

"Where are we supposed to go?" asked Glinda, half hysterical from the shock of the situation they were in, "You just knocked out three of these…law men, which cannot have helped our situation any!"

"Yes you're right, I should have let them lock us up, I'm sure it would have made for a pleasant experience. Three guesses who's fault this is in the first place.," Elphaba shot back.

"There's no time for this," shouted Dorothy, trying to stop the two from bickering before the officers regained mobility, "Follow me!" She turned and began running, not telling the others where they were going while the police officers were within earshot. Once they were a safe distance away she turned back to Elphaba and Glinda.

"Look, let's had back to the farm. It's the only place I can think of and hopefully the men have left by now. We can probably hide out there until we think up a plan of some sort," she stated, surprising herself by how calm her voice sounded.

Glinda, on the other hand, had not remained so level headed, "What plan?" she cried, "We have no way home, no where to run, and in a matter of hours there'll probably be dozens of people looking for us. How on earth are we supposed to get out of this situation?"

Elphaba, knowing this was not the time or place for Glinda to have a breakdown, slapped her friend lightly on the face, just hard enough to snap her out of her hysteria, "Pull yourself together Glinda, there's no time for this."

Glinda did not seem at all comforted by this, but she did shut her mouth as Dorothy continued to speak, "Look, this is the best course of action we have right now. If you can think up a better plan go ahead but for now follow me."

With that Dorothy turned on her heel and Elphaba followed behind immediately. Glinda looked uncertain for a moment but, deciding she did not want to be left standing alone in the middle of the night, eventually jogged and caught up to her two friends.

When they arrived at the house they found to their dismay that the lights were still on in the living room. The three exchanged a look, not sure if it would be dangerous to go inside. However, standing out in the open did not seem very appealing right now, and so they proceeded up the drive against the tense feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

Dorothy took a deep breath before knocking on the door, hoping against hope the cops hadn't known to come by here yet.

The door was answered seconds later by a rather concerned looking Hunk. All three women standing on the steps let out internal sighs of relief.

"I thought you'd come back here," said Hunk concernedly as he ushered them inside, "Hurry, before someone sees you."

Dorothy looked at him strangely, "How do you already know-"

Her sentence was cut off as she got a glimpse of what was on the television screen. Elphaba and Glinda, who had seen the device in the house before but not known what it was, stared at the television with a mixture of wonder and shock.

On the screen an anchorwoman was giving a special report, accompanied by a picture of the knocked out police officers. They tuned in just as she was finishing up, "All three of these women are extremely dangerous and should not be approached. If you see them or have any information regarding there whereabouts we urge you to call our emergency hotline."

Dorothy turned to Hunk, her voice wavering slightly, "How on earth did they find out about this so quickly. What did the rest of the report say?"

"She started by saying that the police station had received a call about three women who'd tried to assault an old man earlier today. Then when the cops had gone after them they'd knocked them out by some unknown means. They identified Dorothy and warned that one was green and shrouded in a black cloak. All they said for Glinda was that she was a blond woman dressed in rather strange attire," Glinda huffed at this, but Hunk simply continued, "But I can't say I believe what they're telling us. What really happened out there?"

Elphaba was more than ready to launch into an explanation, "I'll tell you what happened. The goddamned Wizard of Oz happened!"

At Hunk's confused look Dorothy explained, "You remember how I told you the Wizard turned out to be an old humbug?" at Hunk's nod she continued, "Well it turned out it was a bit more serious than that. He, along with help from a horrible woman named Madame Morrible, was the one who began spreading rumors about Elphaba in the first place. He sent me to kill her, and Glinda made him leave Oz after it happened. I didn't realize he was here, but we ran into him on our way out of town and…it wasn't pleasant."

"You didn't really attack him did you," Hunk asked, eyes widening. From what he knew of Elphaba so far she didn't seem dangerous, just sarcastic. However, he really didn't know the woman all that well, and he couldn't say he was sure what she would or wouldn't do.

"Of course not," said Dorothy, "but…we learned some disturbing news. The Wizard was…I mean he is…"

"He's my friggin _father_," Elphaba spat, still ashamed to be associated with him. Hunk was a bit taken aback by the venom in her voice.

"Then…why would he call the police on you?"

Elphaba assumed that was the Kansas name for the men who'd tried to capture them, "He tried to make 'amends' or some nonsense like that. As if, the conniving old bastard probably just wanted to use me. All he ever wanted was to use me. I didn't buy it so we ran."

"But why didn't you head straight back to Oz then? Shouldn't you have just left after that?" asked Hunk.

"It turns out that Elphaba lost the spellbook we used to get here. It's what we came back here in search of. However, we weren't able to find it, so we weren't sure where to go. Thank goodness Zeke and Hickory have already left." Dorothy explained.

"Well, I wouldn't remain so calm about that. Those two are bound to come by again when they hear the news. I don't think they'd believe it of you Dorothy, but I know for a fact they don't exactly trust Elphaba and Glinda. They'll probably think they'd set you up or something. They'll be out for blood," said Hunk.

"Is it safe to stay here then?" asked Dorothy worriedly, "If they could come back at any moment I mean."

"I think it's your best bet for now. After all, you three could always hide upstairs. I don't think they'd search the house as long as I'm here."

Dorothy smiled and gave the farm hand a hug, "Oh Hunk, you've been so wonderful through all of this. I don't know what we'd have done without you!"

Hunk just smiled and gave her a pat on the back, "Always glad to help out an old friend Dorothy."

Elphaba and Glinda also gave him grateful smiles. Glinda had seemed to calm down a bit since they'd entered the safety of the house, but they were all still a bit shaken up. The seriousness of the situation was weighing down on them. What if they never got home? After all, how were they supposed to do it without a spell? The question was in the back of all of their minds, but for the time being they pushed it away. There was no time to panic right now.

However, whatever calm existed in the room was shattered in the next few moments. There was a loud bang, and everyone in the room nearly jumped out of their skin. Without so much as a knock the door burst open before Dorothy, Elphaba and Glinda had any time to react.

**Yay for cliffhangers. I know you guys probably want to kill me by now, but they're so dang fun to write. Anyways, I seriously doubt there's going to be a chapter up next week. See, this weekend is my school play, and tomorrow begins the hell week. I'm probably not going to have a spare minute, and I don't have the next chapter written yet. So this is probably it for two weeks. **

**Anyways, please leave a review and tell me what you thought, I'll just take a bit of time to respond to some of the reviews from last chapter:**

**WickedJelly: Le gasp! Are you undermining my importance? I may have to take back that cookie I gave you for being my first reviewer. **

**Dammit, I must use normal smiles now. Woe is me. Let's see if these actally show up. :P**

**Yeah, the thirteen hour practice is tomorrow, the beginning of what I'm sure will be a very fun week. Sarcasm.**

**The-Good-Die-Alone: Lol, I opened your review in class and almost had a heart attack because I was afraid a teacher would be standing behind me. Twas safe though. I'm glad to see you liked the chapter enough to get so pissed off at the Wizard. :)**

**Sigma1: I'm glad, because I was kind of hoping no one would notice, that way I could pull it out later and make it all surprisingful. (That wasn't a pathetic attempt at Ozian slang, I always add 'ful' to the end of my adjectives :P)**

**Well, thanks for reading, you guys are awesome!**

**Till next time S.P.**


	9. March of the Witch Hunters

**Hey all. Well, my play is finally over as of Saturday, and I'm still feeling a bit depressed about it. Of course, now I'll have a lot more free time on my hands, especially because I'm off until April 16. Anyway, I got this chapter up a little earlier then expected, because I was finally able to read myself of my horrible writer's block.**

**OK, so this is another chapter with an explanation that's a little out there. Unfortunately, it was the only one I could come up with, and hopefully it won't seem too unbelievable. Enjoy the chapter and I'll answer reviews at the end.**

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Everyone in the room froze as the door swung open. Elphaba felt every muscle in her body tense and an unexpected rush of adrenaline surged through her veins. They hadn't been prepared for this, but now they were going to have to face their problem head on. Two men stumbled through the door and Elphaba positioned herself to dart past them if any trouble started. However she dropped her stance immediately as she recognized the taller of the two.

"_Fiyero?_" she asked, disbelief evident in her voice.

"Boq!" Glinda squealed, now realizing that it was her husband standing behind Elphaba's. Not nearly as skeptical as her friend, she immediately ran forward and practically tackled the Munchkin to the ground. Boq was somewhat surprised by the sudden affection, but smiled and returned the hug all the same.

Fiyero was the first to speak, "Thank Oz we found you. We've been trying to come after you since you left. You seem to have forgotten to bring something very important with you." Stepping inside the small home, he held out the Grimmerie. Elphaba had never been so happy to see the large book in her entire life.

"But…but how in Oz's name did you get here?" she asked, not taking her eyes off of the Grimmerie, as if the spellbook would disappear should she dare to blink.

"Well, right after you said the spell you disappeared, and the Grimmerie was left sitting on the floor. Boq and I knew you needed it to get back, so we wasted no time in planning a course of action. You know that show about the Wizard? 'Wizomania' I think it's called. Well, I remembered seeing it a while back and I knew they had that giant balloon thing that they used for a prop. After Glinda shut it down a couple of years ago they put all of the scenery into storage. All Boq and I had to do was raid the prop closet at the theatre. The security guards didn't ask many questions, I just told them it was for business purposes," Fiyero explaimed.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, "And they believed that you would need a hot air balloon for 'business purposes'"

Fiyero just shrugged, "I don't know, I guess they're not that sharp. Either that or they just didn't want to know."

"And it actually flew? I thought it was made for scenery purposes," Glinda remarked.

"No they were pretty accurate in the design. All we had to do was light the top part thingy on fire like we'd seen the Wizard do when he left Oz. Then the balloon filled up and rose off the ground."

"And how on earth did you get the stupid thing here? I don't recall ever seeing you take a lesson on hot air ballooning," remarked Glinda.

"Well see, that's the weird part. The Grimmerie seemed to be sort of…guiding us I suppose you could say. It nearly tore itself out of my hands when it was time to land," said Fiyero.

"So let me get this straight," said Glinda, "You stole a hot air balloon you didn't know how to fly and took it into the air with no idea where you were going, and lucky for you Elphaba's spell book led you here?"

"Pretty much," said Fiyero, shrugging his shoulders.

"You two are idiots," said Elphaba bluntly, finally yanking the spellbook from her husband's arms.

"Where the hell do you park a hot air balloon?" Glinda asked.

Boq replied this time, "Well, uh, we weren't really sure how to park it, so we sort of just let it fly away when we got out. After all, we don't need it to get back if Elphaba can just read the spell from the Grimmerie."

Elphaba and Glinda just rolled their eyes in response to their husbands' stupidity.

Hunk, who had been watching the scene confusedly, cleared his throat, causing everyone in the room to turn toward him, "Um…so I'm assuming you know these men."

"Unfortunately," said Elphaba, before Glinda elbowed her in the side.

"They're our husbands," she said sweetly.

"Ah, nice to meet you then," said Hunk, extending a hand. Boq shook it enthusiastically, but Fiyero looked a bit skeptical.

"Who are you then?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Oh, sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Hunk, Dorothy's former farmhand," Hunk replied, oblivious to the suspicion in Fiyero's voice.

Elphaba, seeing her husband's doubt, spoke up, "Hunk has been very helpful since we got here Yero. We'd probably already have been found out if it wasn't for him."

Fiyero's face softened at his wife's insistence, "Alright then, sorry about that. Being a fugitive for four years makes you wary of other people, if you know what I mean."

"Not really…" said Hunk, not quite sure what Fiyero was talking about. However, any further questions were cut off by Glinda.

"Well," she said, turning to face Elphaba, "Now that we have the Grimmerie, I suppose we can all just head home. I'll be glad when this whole ordeal is over."

Elphaba nodded in agreement and placed the book on the floor. She was about to kneel down and open it before a statement from Boq caused all of them to turn toward the window.

"Hey Dorothy," he said, looking out the dusty window of the farmhouse, "Are those friends of yours?"

Marching up the driveway were about 20 farmers, all looking rather angry. Some carried bats or pitchforks, and they were shouting something unintelligible. At the head of the group were Zeke and Hickory, both looking absolutely livid. Elphaba wasn't sure if it was her eyes playing tricks on her, but she thought she could see the Wizard in their midst, a look of smug satisfaction on his face. Elphaba could only think of one response to this.

"Oh shit," she mumbled.

Fiyero and Boq had no idea what was going on for the next several minutes. In a panic, each woman grabbed her husband's arm and dragged them toward the staircase, Dorothy following behind. They charged up the stairs and had just enough time to lock themselves in Dorothy's bedroom before there came a loud banging at the front door.

Hunk, glad that everyone had safely hidden themselves, calmed himself and plastered an innocent expression on his face before opening the door.

Hickory was the one who had knocked, and was now standing on the doorstep. His expression softened a bit when he realized it was his old friend who had opened the door.

"Oh hey Hunk," he said, though he was clearly not looking at Hunk as he spoke. His eyes were darting back and forth as though he were trying to see past Hunk and into the house, "Have you heard anything about Dorothy? I knew those two characters she was traveling with were no good and now look at the mess they've gotten her into."

"Uh, yeah, they're no good alright" said Hunk, rather unconvincingly, "But unfortunately I haven't heard from her since they left here."

Hickory looked Hunk up and down and didn't seem entirely convinced, "Well, me and Zeke here wanted to come in and have a look around. See if we can find any clues or evidence or anything like that."

"Uh…there's really no need; I've already searched pretty thoroughly," said Hunk, trying to keep the other men out."

"Well then you won't mind if we come in now then would ya?" said Zeke, joining Hickory on the doorstep. Before Hunk could argue further, the two men pushed past him and into the house. The rest of the mob watched the doorway with narrowed eyes.

Upstairs, Elphaba had her ear pressed to the door while the others crowded around her. Her eyes widened as she heard the two men enter the house.

"They're inside," she whispered, turning to the others.

"Elphie why don't you get us out of here now, before they have time to come up here and find us," Glinda whispered back.

"Yes, that's a good idea. I'm sure Hunk will know where we've go-…Oh no," she said, eyes widening.

"What is it?" asked Fiyero, concern creeping into his voice.

"It's the Grimmerie," whispered Elphaba, "I think I left it-"

"Hey, what's this?" Zeke's voice drifted up the stairs.

"Downstairs"

**And there's the end of chapter 9. I'm actually quite happy with the way I ended it, because I really wasn't sure where I was going to take the story after this chapter until I wrote it. As you can see, we're nearing the end. There should only be about 2 or 3 more chapters left to the story after this.**

**Anyways, I'll just take a bit of time to answer some reviews now:**

**WickedJelly: Ok, see, I didn't make you wait two whole weeks. More like one and a half. Now you don't have to kill me :P**

**Lol, yes, the smileys show up now. At last the curse has lifted. Yay cookie!**

**Well, that's really all I needed to respond to. Thanks you so much for your reviews, especially because I know there was something wrong with the site the night I posted this chapter and you probably couldn't review right after you read it. I appreciate that you took the time to go back and leave me a review!**

**Till next time S.P.**


	10. Daring Escape

**Hi everyone, I'm so sorry for the delay. This chapter gave me such a hard time. I had no idea where I wanted to take it. I suppose this chapter turned out all right, though it wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped it would be.**

**On another note, I saw Wicked again last night! It was amazing! My school has mother daughter theatre night every year, and I've been looking forward to this since they handed the forms out in November. Sitting through school was torture, and we had to take school buses into Manhattan because my school couldn't splurge for a nice bus, but it was worth it. We had crappy seats (all the way on the right of the mezzanine) but that didn't matter, because I was practically shaking with joy from the first chord of 'No One Mourns the Wicked' (actually since I stepped into the theatre) until I got home and had to go to sleep. Kendra Kassebaum was hysterical as Galinda, and Julia Murney was very good too. I knew every line before they said it, yet I still laughed at everything and bawled at the end. I guess that's when you know you have a problem.**

**I'm sorry for blathering on like this, but I'm still in the after effects of immense joy. My mom was making fun of me for being in a state of Wicked induced bliss for 6 hours (and buying $70 worth of merchandise). My mom and friends all liked the show too, which made me quite happy, although judging by the strange looks I was getting they didn't enjoy it as much as I did. I couldn't wear my t-shirt since we had to dress up, so I wanted to wear green eyeliner, but my mom made me take it off. Woe is me. Oh well, seeing the play a second time is just as amazing as the first time. I just realized I've seen RENT since that last time I updated as well. That was amazing as well (I'm going to see it again with my friends in June) just not as amazing as Wicked! Gah, I really should shut up now. On with the story!**

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Elphaba felt a shiver run up her spine as Zeke's voice drifted up the stairs. Fiyero, who was pressed up against her, felt the tremor and looked at her concernedly, but Elphaba paid him no mind. Everyone knew what must have happened, Zeke had found the Grimmerie. The question that hung in the air now was what would happen next.

Mumbles about the book were already floating up the steps. It looked far too foreign and ancient to belong in the little farm house, and everyone knew it. Even still they could hear Hunk protesting weakly that he'd taken the book out of the library and had misplaced it. No one believed his blatant lie, and most had already connected the large book with its true owner.

Elphaba's thoughts were whizzing at a hundred miles an hour. There seemed to be no way out of this situation. They needed the Grimmerie to get home, but there was no possible way to get it back from the farm hands. If they waited up here, assuming that the members of the mob didn't come upstairs and rip them to pieces, Zeke and Hickory would most likely take the green book with them when they left. If Elphaba charged downstairs and surprised them she could probably get the book, but even if she managed to get through the mass of angry people on the doorstep she most likely wouldn't get far enough to actually open up the book and chant a spell before the mob caught up to her. Besides, that still left the issue of how the other four people who were trapped upstairs with her would escape. Their situation seemed hopeless. She closed her eyes in frustration and continued to mull over all possible courses of action.

Surprisingly enough, it was actually Glinda who came up with a plan of action. She had been scrutinizing the room for all possible means of escape and it turned out there were only two, the door and a window on the far side of the room. The door was most obviously out of the question, as the only place they could go from there was downstairs, and into arms of the waiting mob. The window, however; was on the side of the house, which meant that they would not be seen unless they went around to the front. Glinda could easily float everyone down in her bubble, but the real question was where to go from there. After all, they still couldn't go anywhere without the Grimmerie, which was now downstairs under the watchful eyes of Zeke and Hickory.

Standing up, Glinda decided that their best bet was to get out of the house and think up a course of action from there. After all, it wouldn't do for all of them to be found huddled against the door of a bedroom. If that happened there'd be no safe way out, for it would take several minutes for Glinda to float everyone safely to the ground. Taking a deep breath, she stood and cleared her throat.

Everyone turned from the door to look at Glinda, who felt the little confidence she had falter under the gaze of her friends. Shakily, she tried to summon up her Glinda the Good voice, "Look, we can't just sit here and wait for those people to come up and find us. That window over there leads to the side of the house, I can get everyone down one at a time in my bubble, but we have to act quickly."

Everyone in the room simply stared at Glinda for a moment, before Elphaba stood up and moved to her side, "Glinda's right. We can't just sit here and wait to be captured. I have been through way too much to be captured by a couple of Kansas farmers. Let's go."

Glinda was extremely grateful for Elphaba's support. Elphaba had so much more confidence, and spoke with conviction. Everyone stood up and moved to the window at once and Glinda took a deep breath before she prepared to conjure her bubble. She had Boq slip himself through the window and balance on the ledge, and then summoned the bubble to carry him to the ground. He looked a bit startled as he was incased by the large pink sphere, and he stood stock still until it popped and he was safely on the ground. Glinda repeated this two more times, until it was only she and Elphaba left standing by the window pane.

"You know, I still prefer my method of travel,' said Elphaba, throwing her leg over the windowsill.

Glinda just gave her friend a smile as she summoned the bubble to carry Elphaba to the ground as well. She knew her friend could have easily done the spell herself, but she was glad Elphaba had simply accepted Glinda's help. It made Glinda feel more confident to be the one handling the situation for a change.

Now the only one left, Glinda too stepped over the ledge and summoned her bubble with a flourish, joining the others, including the still smirking Elphaba, on the ground. She stepped lightly from her bubble, and peered around the side of the house. She could see that most of the crowd had entered the house, and those who hadn't been able to squeeze into the living room where standing on the front porch trying to look over the shoulders of those in front of them.

Glinda turned back to the group behind her, "There's no way we're going to get in there without being seen. There are too many of them; we'll be spotted as soon as we step around the corner."

Dorothy looked thoughtful for a moment before she stepped forward, "I can go in Glinda. After all, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't believe any crime of me. I'll pretend that I got away from you and Elphaba and that I've turned against you. Then, when their guard is down, I'll grab the book and run."

Elphaba looked thoughtful for a moment before she nodded, "Alright, just be careful. We'll watch the door. Once you have the book run straight for the cornfield where we first arrived, we'll follow right behind you."

Fiyero seemed a bit surprised that Dorothy had become so good at plotting, "I wouldn't have believed such treachery from you young lady," he said, wagging his finger, pretending to chastise her.

Dorothy smiled a bit before she replied, "Well look at the company I've been keeping," and turned on her heel, making her way back to the house. The others watched her go, looking after her from their hiding place.

Those who were standing on the steps of the house turned their heads sharply as Dorothy approached, their bodies tensing. However, they relaxed as soon as they realized who was approaching them. One of the women in the group dropped her pitchfork off to the side and enveloped Dorothy in a bone crushing hug. The group on the side of the house watched the proceedings with apprehension.

Dorothy looked nervously up at people she hadn't seen in months, eyeing their weapons nervously. However, they seemed kind enough, and seemed to harbor no ill intentions at the moment. She took a deep breath as the crowd parted, allowing her inside. She jostled her way trough to the center, where Hunk was losing an argument with Zeke and Hickory.

"Then where did this book come from Hunk? Don't give me that bull that you know nothing about this," said Zeke, gesturing to the large leather book in his arms. He'd found the pages to be full of some sort of gibberish, but that had just made him even more suspicious. Something fishy was most definitely going on here, and he knew Hunk was involved somehow.

However, Hunk was spared having to answer as he realized Dorothy had joined them, "Dorothy!" he exclaimed, surprised. He'd seen the group disappear upstairs before the mob had come in, and they had most certainly not come back down by way of the stairs. He assumed that magic was involved some how, but he didn't spare much thought to the issue. He was too concerned about how Zeke and Hickory would react to the girl's presence. Neither man seemed to be in the right state of mind at the moment.

However, he was surprised when Zeke whipped around and immediately enveloped Dorothy in a hug. "Oh thank goodness. I was afraid you'd been dragged off somewhere by those lunatics! I knew they were trouble from the moment I saw them!" he reiterated.

Dorothy returned the hug, winking at Hunk, who was still looking mildly confused, over Zeke's shoulder as she did so. Hunk still looked a bit baffled, but he smirked a bit as he realized that the girl most definitely had something up her sleeve.

Dorothy pulled away from the hug after a moment, eyeing the book in Zeke's arms nervously. She had to grab it and push her way through the crowd without being captured. She only had one shot at this. If she couldn't pull the book from his arms or got caught before she made it out the door they'd realize her intentions. If that happened then there was no way she was getting out of here, at least not without dragging her friends into this mess. She swallowed hard; she had to get Zeke to let his guard down first.

Putting on a show of fake hysterics, she cried, "Oh Zeke I'm so glad to see you. It was horrible! Those two wretched women turned out to be nothing but trouble."

She put her face in her hands, slyly peering through her fingers as she conjured up some crocodile tears. She saw Zeke move to comfort her, his grip on the Grimmerie loosening as he did so.

The events of the next several seconds were a blur. Snapping out of her despair suddenly, Dorothy snatched the book from Zeke and turned sharply, darting for the exit. She heard Zeke and Hickory cry after her, and felt one of them try to grab her arm as she rushed forward. She pushed her way through the startled crowd, the members of whom were caught completely off guard by Dorothy's sudden change in disposition. Someone grabbed her arm, but she yanked herself free, stumbling forward as she tried to keep up her momentum. Somehow she managed to make it out, and she jumped off of the steps of the house and kept moving.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her friends suddenly burst into view, but she did not slow her pace. She couldn't have stopped running at that moment if she had wanted to.

Finally, when Dorothy felt as if her lungs were about to burst, they reached the town and stopped for breath. The people in the square looked curiously at the strange group, but none of them seemed to recognize them as the fugitives from the news, especially since Elphaba had once again covered herself with her long cloak. Dorothy was panting too heavily to speak, but she handed the large book to Elphaba, who smiled gratefully.

"Nice job," Elphaba said hastily, "We don't have time to stop. We should get back to that corn field before someone here recognizes us. We don't have time to waste.

The others nodded in agreement, and they turned to leave when suddenly a voice sounded from behind. Fear shot through the group as they turned around and were met by the sight of the Wizard, flanked on either side by Zeke and Hickory. Hunk stood next to them, looking at a loss to do anything. They could see the rest of the angry crowd in the distance, moving toward them quickly. Elphaba cursed.

They'd been caught.

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**Ok, I know I already too up way too much author's note room, but lemme just take a bit more. Sorry for the cliffhanger. Hopefully the next chapter won't take me as long to write now that I know generally how I want this to end. I think we have about two chapters left now. How depressing :/**

**Anyway, let me answer a couple of reviews quickly:**

**OMG it's WickedJelly: OMG, so it is! Nice pen name change :) Sparky huh? Makes me picture a jack russell terrier. Bark!**

**X-Kate-X: Lol, hanging on to books is harder than it sounds! I've left the same books in my math classroom so often that my teacher told me to hold on to them or she was going to tape them to me…. Yay for getting weird looks! I don't know what I'm gonna do when this is over either! I don't think I want to do a sequel to this one, but I'm most definitely going to start working on something else. Glad you're enjoying the story!**

**OMGitsASH: Hey, you saw RENT the same day as me right? What did you think? I thought it was amazing, and I bought one of those playbills they were selling at the end too. **

**Well, since my author's note is probably longer than the chapter (because no one else would listen to me ramble on as I professed my undying love for Wicked) I'll be shutting up now. **

**I'll try to update soon! S.P. **


	11. Back to Oz

**Oh thank Oz I've finally finished this chapter. I don't think I've ever had as much trouble writing anything else in my entire life. I suppose that's what I get for not planning this ending out ahead of time. **

**I know a lot of you were expecting me to just send them home last chapter, but it didn't feel right to do that without finishing things up with the Wizard. However, I had no idea how to do that believably, and so was born the worst case of writer's block I've ever experienced. I have no idea how many times I rewrote this chapter. I'd start, get halfway through, then realize I hated it and have to start over. I feel like this whole story was a bit bleh (for lack of a better term), and I don't know how happy I am with this ending. However, it's much better than what I'd had here in my earlier tries, trust me.**

**Well anyway, I won't say much else. As I said, I'm not really sure this turned out so well, but I'll let you decide.**

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The Wizard stood before them, a smug look on his face and with Zeke and Hickory on either side of him. Hunk stood a little way off behind them, looking powerless to do anything. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Wizard was the one who'd lead the angry crowd into the town. He'd no doubt known that's where they were headed after running into Dorothy, Elphaba and Glinda there earlier. Fiyero could see Elphaba's knuckles turning white as she gripped the Grimmerie. He knew she was probably doing everything in her power to keep calm right now.

Suddenly, Elphaba whispered something to Fiyero, not taking her gaze off of the three people in front of her, "Fiyero, join hands."

"What?" he asked, turning to her with a skeptical look on his face.

"Tell everyone to join hands," she whispered again, more urgently this time. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her slip her thumb between two pages of the Grimmerie, but no one else seemed to notice the action.

Catching on to what she was about to do, he grabbed the hand nearest to him, which happened to be Boq's. The Munchkin looked up at him for a moment, shocked, before Fiyero rolled his eyes. He motioned for Boq to take Glinda's hand, and Boq's eyes returned to normal size as he caught on. Soon everyone in the line was holding hands behind their backs, and the men in front of them were none the wiser.

The Wizard stepped forward, a smirk fixed upon his face. He turned to address Elphaba, "Well, it looks like after all of this time you haven't changed. You never did know what was good for you, did you _dearest daughter_."

Elphaba's eyes blazed, "Don't you dare."

Suddenly, before anyone knew what was happening, Elphaba threw the spellbook down on the ground, opened to the page she'd been saving. She dropped down beside it and began chanting immediately. She grabbed Fiyero's arm as she drew near the end of the spell, and it was at this moment that the Wizard tried to pull her back to her feet and stop her. There was a shout, and then suddenly six people disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing but a bewildered crowd and a smiling Hunk behind.

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After a few moments of frenzied teleportation, Elphaba and the others found themselves standing in the main square at the center of the Emerald City. A few passing Ozians shouted, before they realized that it was only Elphaba. They'd grown used to the fact that one of their leaders was the former Wicked Witch of the West, and had by now accepted that her magic went along with that. However, that didn't mean it didn't still make them a bit nervous. After all, the Ozians tended to be a bit afraid of anything they didn't fully understand.

Their heads still reeling from the sudden departure the spell had caused, it took the five travelers a few moments to realize there was an unwelcome guest in their midst. It seemed that because the Wizard had been touching Elphaba when the spell was cast, he'd been transported back to Oz along with them.

For a moment everyone froze, the five friends staring at the Wizard in shock as he stared back with an equally confused expression. Everything had happened so quickly that no one was really quite sure what was going on. Elphaba was the first to regain her composure.

"Well well, how the tables have turned," she said, smirking as she got to her feet.

However, the Wizard did not seem afraid. Quite the contrary actually, he looked absolutely baffled. The Wicked Witch of the West was standing in the center of one of the busiest parts of Oz, and yet there was no panic. The Ozians didn't even seem to spare a glance to the green woman and her friends as they rushed past. There was most definitely something wrong here.

Thinking that perhaps the Ozians were just too dense to figure out what was going on, the Wizard decided to take matters into his own hands. He stood, trying to look as frightened as possible, and shouted, "Help! It's the Wicked Witch of the West!"

This got the Ozians attention, but did not generate the type of reaction the Wizard had been expecting. Passerby stopped, looking from Elphaba to the Wizard with bemused expressions on their faces. They were wondering who this man was and why he hadn't heard about the change in the social status of the Wicked Witch of the West. For a moment it seemed as though no one would recognize the former Wizard of Oz.

However eventually there came a voice from the back of the crowd, "Hey, that's the Wizard!"

This comment was met by shouts of disbelief. Everyone in the crowd knew that the Wizard had returned to Kansas in his hot air balloon some time ago. Few had actually been present to actually see the man off, but those present had been shocked by his rather unimposing appearance. It was one of these people who had just identified the rather frail looking man at the front of the crowd as Oz's former leader.

Seeing that he'd generated no response thus far, the Wizard tried again now that he had the crowd's attention, "Yes, I am the Wizard of Oz! The Wicked Witch of the West and her accomplices have kidnapped me!"

Elphaba let out a loud cackle as the still skeptical Ozians still made no move to help the Wizard. Upon hearing the rather frightening laugh the Ozians eyed Elphaba nervously, and the Wizard began to grow concerned for his safety.

Elphaba eyes burned with hatred as she finally spoke, "Apparently you haven't been kept up to date _your Ozness_. I'm not the Wicked Witch of the West anymore, I'm the governor of Munchkinland, and you are most certainly no longer the Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

Elphaba smirked as the Wizard visibly paled at her words, obviously not having expected anything along the lines of Elphaba's name having been cleared. Elphaba was not usually a cruel person, but she could help but feel a strange sort of satisfaction as she watched the Wizard squirm under her gaze. She was calling the shots now and they both knew it.

At this point several Gale Forcers had arrived at the scene, having come to see what the commotion was. Glinda, Boq, Dorothy and Fiyero were still frozen in place where they'd appeared, unable to take their wide eyes off the scene in front of them. They recognized the look in Elphaba's eye, but none of them had the guts to try and stop her. Secretly, they were all enjoying watching the Wizard get what was coming to him.

Elphaba couldn't control herself at this point. If she'd thought she'd hated Morrible, it was nothing compared to the contempt she felt for the Wizard. At least Morible had admitted to the fact that she was evil, but the Wizard continued to try and play the victim. He was nothing but a powerless con-artist, a bully who oppressed those weaker than him. Elphaba was sick of his games.

She moved closer to the Wizard now, dropping her voice to a whisper, "I meant it when I said I didn't need your help. If you'd just left us alone in the first place you wouldn't even be in this situation. But I suppose I wouldn't have expected anything less from you. After all, you never did know what was good for you _father." _Elphaba said the last word of her sentence with such venom that the others were surprised the Wizard's skin wasn't burned from his body. He flinched visibly as she spat his own line back at him. By now he appeared utterly defeated.

Whipping around fiercely, Elphaba finally acknowledged the guards who had been standing behind her for some time. Still looking livid, she barked, "Guards, take this man to the dungeons."

The Gale Forcers obeyed immediately, seizing the Wizard by the arms. The man didn't even seem to put up a fight as he was led away. He knew he was defeated, and hung his head in shame as the Ozians who had once adored him now made no move to help him. It seemed that all of the wrongs he'd done them had finally caught up to him in the end.

After the Wizard had been dragged out of sight, Elphaba finally seemed to compose herself. Her breathing returned to normal after a few moments and her gaze softened a bit. She looked around a bit sheepishly, as if just noticing the crowd of gaping Ozians around her. She knew she'd flown off the handle, but she hadn't bee able to control herself.

It was Glinda who stepped in, realizing that Elphaba had seemingly returned to normal. Well, as normal as Elphaba could be anyway. She turned to address the crowd, putting on her best Glinda the Good persona, which seemed a bit out of place given the scene that had just taken place. "Fellow Ozians, there's nothing else to see here. Go about your business as usual."

The crowd just stood there for a few moments longer, still looking awestruck. Eventually, after realizing that the ordeal was over, the Ozians began to disperse slowly. They still looked a bit shook up, and they continued casting uneasy glances at Elphaba as they went away. Once all of the Ozians had returned to their affairs, Elphaba finally turned and faced her friends.

Fiyero spoke first, trying, and failing, to sound casual, "Well…that was…interesting."

Elphaba looked at her hands, "I know I probably sounded a bit crazed, but you know how I feel about that man. I couldn't help myself."

Fiyero nodded, taking Elphaba into his arms, "It's alright Fae. You've been through a lot in the past few days, we all have. But we're home now, and the Wizard is behind bars. Everything is going to be alright now."

Elphaba seemed to relax into his arms for a moment, before she suddenly tensed again, "Oh no…"

Fiyero let go of her immediately, "Oh Fae, you didn't…"

Elphaba looked at him with wide eyes, when suddenly Glinda tapped her from behind. Smirking, she held the Grimmerie out for Elphaba to take. "You really must learn to hold onto this book Elphie."

Elphaba relaxed instantly, breathing a sigh of relief as she accepted the large spellbook from Glinda, "Oh thank Oz. I really wasn't looking forward to having to get this book back again. I think I've seen enough of Kansas for this lifetime."

No one, including Dorothy, could agree more with that statement.

**And, that would be the end. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed. I really, really appreciate hearing from you, and you're all awesomely amazing…ful. Well, anyways, please review and tell me what you thought of this ending, because at this point I'm not even too sure what I think of it.**

**Well, that's it for this story. Currently I'm working on my next one, and I'm halfway through chapter three at this point. Not sure when I'm going to post it. I think I want to get a couple more chapters done first. **

**Oh, and while I'm rambling, I'm totally excited because I'm going to see RENT again next Sunday with all of my friends. One of them got an offer for $30 tickets, so we sort of emptied our pockets and were able to afford them. This means I'll have seen both of my favorite plays in the span of a month. This shall also be my first time in Manhattan with no adult supervision. I'm soooo excited, even though only one of my friends is actually really looking forward to it. The rest of them are either mildly excited or couldn't care less. What strange friends I have.**

**Well anyways, I think I've taken up enough author's note room. I think I should shut up now. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this story!**

**S.P.**


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